The Interesting Life of Lavinia
by Heart of the Night Fury
Summary: Lavinia was not a happy little girl. For the first eight years of her life she had lived with her drunk, abusive dad. And after a bad fight one night, Lavinia wakes up in a strange ally, badly hurt and filthy. Its seems like it's the end for her. But then she meets four, young turtle boys who will change her life forever. 2k12 Universe. Rated T. Pairing will come later... ;)
1. Four Turtles and A Rat

**You're probably asking yourself, "Why does she do this?" "Why does she keep making new stories?" "Why won't she focus more on the ones she already has up?"**

**My response:**

**Why did the scorpion sting the frog? Why did the cat attack the mouse? Why did I eat my brother's Subway cookie?**

**The answer:**

**IT'S IN OUR DAMN NATURE! THAT'S WHY! (Though, i honestly didn't think my brother still wanted his cookie. I mean, he left it up there for two days, what was i suppose to think?! XP)**

**But we're not here for corny references or delicious treats! Nope! We're here for my new story... For Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!**

**Now, for the description: This all takes place before the show starts. All the turtles and my OC are eight years old when this story starts. The stuff from the actual show won't come on until later. Oh! And if you're imagination is kinda suckish, just imagine my OC as the eight-year-old Elsa. Except she has brown eyes instead of blue, and she doesn't have a braid.**

**I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR MY OC! GOT IT? GOOD! NOW, GO!**

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><p>The Interesting Life of Lavinia<p>

Prologue: Part 1  
>Four Turtles and a Rat<p>

I was sitting on the single recliner we owned, curled up under a dark blanket. It was as thin as paper and itchy like wool, but it was the only blanket I had to myself- the only blanket I was _allowed _to have to myself. I stared blankly at the TV, which had nothing but black and white static marks all over the screen. It had been working a little while ago when I first turned it on, but the satellite dish must've gotten messed up or something, because after a while it stopped working. I would've turned it off, but I was scared I would break it in some way. Daddy might get mad if I do that, and I don't like it when he's mad. Especially after he gets home from work. And even less when he stays out later and comes home smelling funny, his cloths covered in stale drink.

_Thump… Thump… Thump…_

My head snapped up from resting on the arm of the recliner. Daddy was home! _Oh no… _At once I hopped off the chair and fell onto the floor, rolling up in my blanket in the process. I kicked, pushed, and struggled until I had managed to squirm my way out. As soon as I did I jumped to my feet and ran over to the recliner, pushing my hands across the cushion to get all of the wrinkles out. I must not leave any trace that I was there. I'm not allowed to sit in daddy's chair, but it's _so _comfy. And if he found out that I sat in his chair while he wasn't here…

I heard the lock on the door click loudly and I ran over to the TV and turned it off. I quickly drug over the small wooden stool, which was the only thing I could sit in. With my blanket wrapped around me, I sat down on the stool. Any minute now, he'll be coming-

_BAMB!_

I flinched slightly at the sound of the door slamming, but otherwise, didn't move. The door slammed again, this time closing. I could hear gruff noises coming from the man who had just entered, as well as loud slopping noises. I turned to look at him, and saw dark stains on his white T-shirt and he was drinking out of a brown bottle in his hand.

"Hi, daddy…"

"Don't 'hi daddy' me," he snapped. "Get out so I can watch TV."

I nodded and stood up-

"Answer me!"

"Y-yes, daddy…"

I quickly grabbed my stool and, keeping my head down, I shuffled out of the living room. I used one hand to drag the stool and one to keep the blanket wrapped around me. I was in front of my bedroom door and about to open it when there was a furious yell.

"You little bitch! What the hell did you do to the TV?!"

I whimpered. Daddy was swearing again. I don't like it when he swears like that. Bad things happen when he does. I dropped the stool and scrambled to get the door open. I swung it open and ran inside, jumping into bed and pulling the blanket over me, as though the thin fabric would somehow protect me. The loud thumping of footsteps sounded in the hallway. A second later there was a loud _bam_ as the door was kicked open. Daddy was standing in the doorway, still holding his brown bottle.

"I didn't do anything, daddy-"

"The hell you didn't!"

Daddy stomped over to me, his free hand reaching out for me. I whimpered as I curled up more under the blanket, unable to move. Daddy jumped on me as he grabbed my tiny throat in his big, strong hand, pinning me to my bed. I spluttered as I lifted my hands up and tried to smack his wrist, but he only squeezed harder. I looked up in time to see daddy's brown bottle above me before a dark, smelly liquid was poured on my face. The stuff got in my eyes and I yelled as they started to burn. As I yelled the liquid got in my mouth and starting going down my throat. It went through my nose and started to make my throat burn and dry up. I was coughing and choking as it went on and on, daddy's hand still holding my neck. Once it was over I spat out whatever stuff was left in my mouth… and accidentally hit daddy's face. He let out an angry growl and threw the bottle so it smashed against the wall.

"You can clean that up after I'm done with you!"

Daddy released my neck and then grabbed my hair. I yelped in pain as he yanked me up off the bed and started dragging me out of the room by my hair. We were in the living room heading to the front door when I yelled.

"D-daddy, stop! P-please! I'm sorry!"

He stopped moving suddenly. "Telling me what to do now, huh?" he growled. "You just won't learn, will you?"

The pain in my head had increased and I was scared to the point where I was starting to cry. Daddy made another angry noise before he threw me on the floor. As I landed on my stomach my head hit the floor and I saw tiny stars. Daddy dug his knee into my back to pin me to the floor, and I felt him grab my left leg with both of his hands.

"This'll teach you a lesson, you worthless bitch!"

There was a loud _pop_ and suddenly pain shot up through my entire left leg. I screamed and shouted in pain, digging my hands into the ground. It hurt so, _so _bad! I just wanted it to end…

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><p>I think I blacked out for a bit, because the next thing I knew I was laying facedown in concrete. It was pouring outside, and I was completely soaked through my yellow pajama shirt and pants. I coughed a bit, and I tasted dirt. I looked around and saw I was in a dark ally, far away from my home. I pushed myself up and tried to move my legs, and yelped in pain. My left let was hurting very badly and I couldn't move it. I slowly turned around to sit on my butt and held my left leg gently. The rain pounded against my head, the cold water soaking my hair and numbing my skin. Being cold, in pain, not to mention hungry, I laid there and started crying, harder this time. What should I do now? I didn't know how to live out here. Daddy never let me out of the house, I didn't even know where I was!<p>

"Psst…"

I thought I heard something from in the ally, but I ignored it, wiping my eyes off with my soaked sleeve.

"Psst!"

I heard it again, and this time I looked up. Just a few feet in front of me was a large manhole that I knew led to the sewers, it's lid laying to the side(I knew what they were because daddy threaten to shove me in one once). Someone was poking their head out from inside the hole, and I saw two bright blue eyes staring at me.

"Hey," a voice called to me.

It was then that I realized it was a boy. He sounded like he was my age. I sniffed loudly, not feeling very scared at the moment. Maybe he was friendly?

"Hello…" I called back to him.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked.

"No…my leg hurts…"

For a moment it was quiet except for the pounding of the rain, and the splashes of the small puddles. Then the boy pushed himself out of the manhole and stood up on the ground. He was pretty tall. He slowly walked over to me until he was only a few steps away. The light from a nearby street lamp was enough for me to see his face.

I wasn't sure what to think of his appearance for a few moments. But after looking him up and down I saw what he was. He looked like a giant, walking turtle, with a shell and everything. Not only that, he was wearing a large blue bandana that covered his head.

"Are you a turtle?" I asked, a little curiously.

"Yeah. Not a normal one, but yeah."

I looked him up and down. "That's…pretty neat."

He took a step forward. "You're not…gonna scream?"

"No… Why?"

"My dad said if people saw me and my brothers that they might be scared of us," he tilted his head. "You're not scared, are you?"

I shook my head. "N-no… Should I be?"

"I don't think so."

There was a pause.

"My name's Leonardo," said the boy. "But my brothers call me Leo. What's your name?"

I sniffed, smiling a little. "Lavinia…"

"That's a nice name," Leo smiled, then it faded. "How did you hurt yourself?"

I gulped. "I…I made my daddy mad. We had a fight…"

Leo didn't say anything, neither did I. I wasn't sure what to say. I sat up a little more but the movement made my leg throb and I whimpered. Leo walked closer and kneeled down in front of me.

"Can you move it?" he asked.

"No… If I do it hurts more…"

I started crying a little bit, but not too much. I didn't want to look like a baby in front of a boy, not even a turtle-boy.

"Wait here."

I looked up to see that Leo stood up and walked over to the manhole. He bent over and brought his hands to cup his mouth.

"Guys! It's okay! Come on up!"

And he stood back. A second later three large shapes shot up out of the manhole. I gasped as all three landed next to Leo. It took me a moment to realize that these were turtles, too. Each of them had a bandana on, as well- one orange, one purple, and one red.

"These are my brothers," said Leo.

I sniffed, and lifted a hand up. "Hi…"

The boy wearing orange said 'hi' cheerfully, the one wearing purple waved, but the one wearing red just glared at Leo.

"She didn't freak out, huh?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"You didn't hear her scream, did you?" Leo turned to the boy in purple. "Her leg's really hurting, Donnie. Think you can check it?"

The turtle-boy known as 'Donnie' slowly walked over and kneeled in front of me. He lifted one of his hands and gently pressed it to my left leg. I knew he was trying to be gentle, but the pressure was enough to make me whimper.

"Ow…"

"Yeah, it's pretty damaged," he said, his voice sounding cute and nerdy, and he turned to his brothers. "She won't be able to walk for a while. Not without help."

All four turtles looked at each other, not saying anything. I was starting to feel a little nervous with all the silence going on. It was then that I noticed the rain had sobered down to a small sprinkle and was no longer pouring. The boy in red sighed.

"We're takin' her with us, aren't we?" he asked.

"We don't have a choice. We can't just leave her here," said Leo.

"Dudes, what's dad gonna think?" asked the boy in orange.

"I'll go and tell him about this, you guys get Lavinia out of here," Leo walked over to me. "I'm going to go ahead and tell our dad about you, and my brothers are going to help bring you to our lair. I'll see you there, okay?"

I nodded, trusting his words. He smiled before turning around and jumping down the manhole.

"Raph, come help me," said Donnie.

'Raph' made a gruff sound before walking over next to Don. They both got on either side of me and placed my arms around their shoulders- Donnie on my right, Raph on my left.

"We're gonna help you up, okay?" Donnie asked, and I nodded. "Okay. Raph, lift her up on my count. One…two…three."

In one swift movement they both lifted me off the ground. My leg slid on the concrete and hurt for a second before I stood on my right foot, still supported by both Raph and Donnie.

"Yah okay, short stuff?" Raph asked, sounding less gruff than before.

I nodded. They then slowly started leading me over to the manhole, still holding me while I hopped on one leg.

"Mikey, get down there so you can help get Levina down," said Donnie.

'Mikey' nodded and jumped down the manhole. I leaned over slightly and saw he was holding onto the ladder, only halfway down. The boys helped set me down on the ground gently so I could slide in through the hole. I held onto the ladder and used my right foot to step down slowly until I was right above Mikey. I looked down at him, and he smiled as he reached up for me.

"C'mon, little dudette! I gotcha!"

I smiled down at him. I eased my way down a little so I was close enough to reach him. He wrapped and arm around me and I held onto him tightly. Suddenly he let go of the ladder and jumped down to the sewer floor. I yelped when this happened, but calmed down when we hit the ground safely.

"Chill, dudette. I won't let yah get hurt."

I grinned. "Thanks…Mikey, right?"

"Heck yeah!" He brought my left arm over his shoulder and raised his head. "C'mon, dudes! Let's go!"

Both Raph and Donnie then hopped down next to us. Don came up and put my right arm over his shoulders and they started to led me through the sewers, Raph leading the way.

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><p>I stared in amazement. The place was <em>huge<em>! That was the only way I could describe it. It appeared to be some sort of rundown subway station or something. But before I could look around more my eyes found Leo standing in the middle of the room. There was a tall figure standing next to him. The person appeared to have what looked like dark brown fur and large ears, and was wearing some kind of robe. When Leo saw us he reached up and tugged on the figures' sleeve.

"Dad, she's here."

The person turned, and I gave a silent gasped. It was a giant, two-legged rat. _This is there dad? But, he's a rat… _The rat stared at me for a moment, eyes wide. He stood in silence for what seemed like forever before he finally spoke.

"My sons, bring her to the couch. Now."

I hopped on my right leg as Donnie and Mikey quickly brought be over to the large couch. Once there, they slowly and gently set me down on the soft cushions. I nearly sighed at how comfy they were. Daddy's recliner was nothing compared to this! The giant rat walked up in front of a couch and kneeled in front of me. I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling a bit nervous.

"Do not fear, little one," he said, his voice was exceedingly gentle. "I assure you, neither me or my sons intend on harming you. Leonardo tells me your name is Lavinia, is that right?"

I nodded. "Y-yes."

"Lavinia- a lovely name for a lovely girl," he smiled. "My name is Splinter. I promise you, child, you're in safe hands."

I looked at him, and nodded. Splinter looked down and, slowly and gently, grabbed my foot and lifted it up. He ran one of his hands(paws?) across my calf, examining it closely. At one point he gave it a gentle squeeze, and I winced.

"Hmm… It's not completely broken, but her bone has been pulled out of place," he turned his head. "Leonardo, I need you to get the first aid kit. Raphael, get an icepack."

Both nodded, and left to retrieve the items. Splinter looked at Donnie and Mikey, and nodded at them.

"You two, come."

Mikey and Donnie came over and stood on either side of Splinter.

"Donatello, I need you to brace Lavinia's leg. Here, like this…" Splinter helped Donnie position his hands on my leg, holding it so that it was braced against the table in front of the couch. "Michelangelo, sit next to her, please."

Mikey nodded before walking over to the couch and sitting next to me.

"Lavinia, listen closely," Splinter said softly. "You're going to have to stay perfectly still for a moment, okay? I'm going to have to pop your leg back into place. It'll hurt for a moment, but don't worry. My son, Michelangelo, is going to hold your hand and never let go. Alright?"

I nodded, but I felt my lip trembling. For some reason, his words scared me only a little. Why did fixing my leg have to hurt? I mean, the whole point of fixing it was so that it wouldn't hurt anymore, right? But before I could say anything I felt something grab my hand. I looked down to see it was Mikey. I looked up at him and saw that he had a small, encouraging smile on his face.

"Mikey, I'm scared," I admitted. "I don't like pain…"

"Me neither," he said, then added a little cheerfully. "But don't worry, dudette! You'll be better in no time! Besides, dad says I won't let go, and I won't."

Mikey smiled brightly at me, and I smiled slightly at him, unable to resist. A few seconds later both Leo and Raph came back- Leo holding a large, black bag, Raph holding a blue icepack. Splinter looked at them before looking back at me.

"Alright…" he grabbed my leg with both of his hands. "Ready? One… two… three!"

_Pop!_

_"Ow!"_

I cried out, squeezing Mikey's hand with all my might. He made an uncomfortable noise, but he didn't let go of my hand, and squeezed it back. My leg began to throb immensely, and I felt a tear fall from my eye.

"It's alright, little one," Splinter said gently, patting my knee. "The worse is over now. Everything is fine."

I took several long breaths, trying to calm down. I glanced down at Mikey's hand, and saw I was still holding it very tightly. I quickly released my grip, but Mikey continued to hold on.

"S-sorry, Mikey. Did I hurt you?" I asked.

Mikey shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine, Nia."

I blinked. "What?"

"Oh, I called you Nia," he told me. "It's short for Lavinia. I kinda like using nicknames for people, and I like naming things, too," he looked at me closely. "Is it… is it cool that I call you that?"

I stared at him. He was asking my permission? I had never had a nickname before. Daddy barley used my full name, usually calling me mean names instead. I smiled at him, and nodded.

"Sure, Mikey."

"Awesome!"

I giggled. Meanwhile, Splinter took the black bag from Leo and opened it up, reaching inside for a moment. He took out a roll of white bandages and some tape and set them down on the floor. Raph then handed him the ice pack. Splinter gently picked up my leg and helped me turn so I could lay across the couch.

"You're very lucky it was only pulled out of place," said Splinter as he placed the pack on my swelling leg, causing me to sigh with relief. "All you need now is to bind it and give it rest."

I nodded, understanding what he was saying. The icepack was kept on my leg for a good few minutes until the swelling finally went down. When it did, Splinter set down the pack and picked up the bandages, unrolling a large amount.

"Donatello, I need you to lift her leg up, please."

Donnie quickly walked over to the other end of the couch where my legs were and lifted my leg up gently. Splinter leaned in close and began wrapping the bandages around my leg.

"My son, Leo, has told me of how he came to find you, and claims to have been told how you got hurt," he looked down at me, looking into my eyes. "Child…is it true? …Did your father really do this to you?"

I gulped, suddenly very nervous. If daddy found out I told anyone that he had hurt me before, he'd hurt me again. I didn't want that. But I felt so safe here that I couldn't help myself.

"D-daddy came home late," I started lowly. "He told me to leave so he could watch his TV. But…the TV was broken. I didn't do it, but he thought I did it. And he…he did awful things. He hurt my leg…"

Splinter didn't reply. He continued to wrap the bandage around my leg until he cut it from the roll with a pair of tiny scissors. He took out some tape and tied it around the bandage to keep it in place. He picked the icepack back up and put it back on my leg like before.

"Is that all? Nothing else?"

"N-no…" I lowered my head and fiddled with my fingers. "I didn't brake the TV, but I think I did something to make him mad. That's why he hurt me, right? Why would he hurt me if I didn't do anything wrong?"

I looked up at Splinter, who didn't say anything. He sat there, staring at me with a weird look.

"Dad?" Leo asked, but received no reply.

Splinter sat there for what felt like several minutes, kneeling in front of me, his hands now on his knees. After what felt like ages, he sighed, and his voice was filled with sorrow.

"You poor child…"

I stared at him, brows furrowed. Was he talking about me? Why was he now upset? Before I could ask him anything he turned to look at the boys.

"My sons, go find a spare blanket and pillow for Lavinia. She will be needing it."

"I'll get them!" Mikey jeered before running off.

"Donatello, go fetch a bowl of water and a rag. Lavinia needs to be cleaned."

"Okay," Donnie replied, and he left, too.

Splinter turned his head back to me. "Lavinia, you are going to be staying here with us for the night," he raised his hand and pushed the hair away from my face. "Maybe a little longer than that. Will that be alright with you?"

I nodded without hesitation. I didn't see any problem with staying here. This place seemed safe enough and looked nice. Plus all the boys seemed to like me, even Raph. So, I didn't see any problem with spending a night or two here.

Donnie came back with a large bowl filled with water and a small rag on his arm. He kneeled down and set the bowl down by Splinter, who thanked him. Splinter took the rag from Donnie and stuck it in the water, making sure not to make a mess. He brought the cloth back up and rug the excess water out. _Why is he doing this? Why for me…? _I suddenly felt a little embarrassed and lowered my head as much as it could go, not wanting anyone to see my face.

"Lavinia, please look up."

I hesitated for a moment, then slowly lifted my head. For some reason I expected to see an irritated look on Splinter's face. What I saw instead was a face that was full of gentleness and kindness.

Splinter lifted my chin up a little more before bringing the wet rag up to my face and began wiping the dirty off of it. He scrubbed my forehead first, rubbing it gently across my head. The water was warm, and it gave a nice feeling to my previously numb skin. Once Splinter was done with my forehead he brought the rag back, and it was coated in a small layer of black dirt. He put it back in the bowl of water, rug it out like last time, and brought it up to clean my cheeks.

Within the next few minutes my face was completely cleaned of whatever grime was left on me from the filthy ally. My face was clean and it felt warm from the heat of the water, which now had small clumps of dirt floating around in it. Leo took the bowl and the rag and took them away. Splinter had taken a larger, dry towel and used it to dry off my face and the rest of my body, which was still damp from the rain outside. After a few minutes, Splinter wrapped the towel around my shoulders before finally getting to his feet.

"It is late, my sons" he breathed. "Time for sleep. Off to bed now."

All four hesitated for a moment, giving me a strange look, but eventually nodded. They all bowed and said "Goodnight, Sensei," in unison. But even as they started to head upstairs, they all called out "goodnight" to me, they even waved at me. Though, Raph nodded instead of waving, but he still told me "goodnight," too. Mikey had just taken his first step up the stairs when he paused. He turned around, and he had a huge, adorable smile on his face. Before me or Splinter could ask he had jumped off of the step and started sprinting back over. For a split second I thought he was going to attack me, so I curled up into my towel. The next thing I knew Mikey had wrapped his large arms around me and was squeezing me gently to his chest.

It was as if some sort of explosion had just happened. Something inside me seemed to have snapped, rupturing everything and letting it all fall out of place. But what was more shocking was what I was now feeling. Warmth, mostly, and a bit of safety. But most of all was a very warm, light feeling that I couldn't name, but still, somehow, liked. This had never happened before- not to me. And I still couldn't believe it. Mikey was… was…

_Hugging me…_

"Goodnight, Nia!" Mikey said cheerfully. "See yah tomorrow!"

And without another word, he gave my another big smile before turning on his heel and sprinting over to and up the stairs. My eyes never left him as I watched him go to the upper level and into a door that could only lead to his room. I was frozen, still shocked by what had just happened. From beside me, I heard Splinter chuckle.

"Forgive him, Lavinia," he told me. "Michelangelo can be a bit overexcited sometimes. He has a very kind heart, but sometimes he just doesn't understand the meaning of personal space."

He turned to face me, but his grin faded when he looked at me. The confusion I was feeling was probably showing on my face.

"What is it, Lavinia?" he asked me. "Is it wrong that my son wants to be friendly?"

"Oh, no," I said quickly, but quietly. "It's just… that's never happened before."

"What? No one has ever been friendly towards you?"

"It's…not just that."

"Then what is it, child?"

I gulped, not sure how to say my next sentence. I sighed, then lowered my head slightly.

"I've…I've never been hugged before…"

Splinter inhaled sharply, and the noise made me look up quickly. Splinter had a shocked look on his face, his eyes wide with surprise. I looked at him, confused. Was it that unusual that I've never had a hug? I mean, it was the truth. I've never had a hug in my life. Daddy never gave me any hugs. And if he did, I couldn't remember any of them.

Splinter walked over to were Mikey had left the blanket and pillow. He picked the two objects up and walked over to the end of the couch were my head was. He laid the pillow on the end and patted it. Having a feeling of what he meant, I slowly laid down on my back until my head hit the pillow and looked up at Splinter.

"Well, I am sure Michelangelo would be honored to know that he was your first hug," he said gently. "You can tell him tomorrow, if you like."

Splinter unfolded the large blanket above me, and I stared in amazement at how big it was. _That blanket is for me? But, it's huge!_ Splinter brought the blanket over me so that it fell gently onto my small frame. The second it made contact I was enveloped with the soft heat it was giving me. This blanket was wonderful, nothing like the blanket back at daddy's. I grabbed onto the blanket and curled up in it the best that I could without hurting my leg, sighing with comfort. A large hand landed on my head and began rubbing it.

"Sleep now, child," Splinter said gently. "You've had a very long night. You must rest now."

Without hesitation, I closed my eyes and fell asleep, Splinter's hand still rubbing my head.

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><p><strong>So, that's it so far. Tell me what you think. I hope you like it. So, if you did or didn't, scroll down and tickle that little review button, and tell me what you think of this new story. And, if you have any personal interest in helping me, PM me and send me an idea, and i'll let you know if i like it. So, see yah!<strong>


	2. Getting Used to It

**I...have no words. This took a little longer than expected to write, I'll say that. Not much else though. Nope. So...time for reading.**

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><p>Prologue: Part 2<br>Getting Used to It…

It felt like it was only a second before I woke up again, but I didn't open my eyes. _It was just a dream, _I told myself. _I didn't meet four turtles and a rat. When I open my eyes, I'll be in my room again. _Knowing I would regret it, I opened my eyes, expecting to see my usual small, dark bedroom. What I saw instead was a small, old TV sitting a few feet away, and a table that had a few comics laying on it. I blinked a few times as I shifted my arms, and I felt a soft, heavy blanket that was covering my frame. I slowly and carefully tried to sit up without moving my leg. I pushed the blanket off and cool air hit me like an electric shock. I shivered slightly.

"Good morning."

I gasped and whipped my head around. Splinter was standing there, arms folded behind him. I blinked several times before I felt myself smile. _It wasn't a dream!_

"I see you are awake, Lavinia," Splinter said as he walked over towards me. "Did you sleep well?"

I nodded. "Yes, very well."

Suddenly there was a yell.

"I think I got it, Sensei!"

It was Mikey. I craned my neck to see what looked like a room far away that was covered by a curtain.

"Um, what's Mikey doing?" I asked.

"He insisted on making breakfast this morning," Splinter turned his head slightly. "Be careful with the stove, Michelangelo."

"I will!" Mikey called back.

Splinter turned back to me. "How are you feeling, Lavinia?"

"Much better," I admitted. "That was the best sleep I've ever had."

"I'm happy to hear that. How's your leg?"

I looked down at my bandaged left leg. I tried lifting it and pain shot through it. I winced, grabbing my leg tightly.

"Still hurts…"

"I thought so. It'll be a while before you are able to walk on your own again. Which is why I have this."

I glanced up and saw Splinter was now holding a wooden crutch. He walked over to the couch and kneeled in front of me, holding his hand out to me.

"Come, child. There's no better time to start getting stronger than right now."

Knowing he was right, I nodded. It took me a moment to get both of my legs over the couch without hurting my bad leg. Splinter handed me the crutch and helped place it under my left arm. Taking hold of my hand, he slowly helped me up.

"I think I can go by myself," I told him.

It wasn't like I didn't appreciate his help, I just didn't want to be more of a burden on Splinter. I mean, I probably already was now, and I wanted to cause as little trouble as possible. I tried to take a step forward on my own, but my 'good' leg wobbled horribly and I started to fall. Splinter quickly caught me in his arms and gently helped me back up.

"S-sorry," I stuttered.

"Healing takes time, child," Splinter said calmly. "You will need some help moving around until your leg is healed."

I hung my head, feeling my face start to flush. "I just… don't wanna be any trouble…"

I felt something large and warm touch the back of my head and I knew it was Splinter. I looked up at him and saw he had a kind smile on his face.

"You are not a burden in any way, Lavinia," he lifted his other hand and offered it to me. "And there is no shame in accepting help when it is needed. And I can tell you've needed help for a long time."

I had a feeling he meant something more when he said that, but I chose not to question it. I looked down at his hand for a moment, then looked back up at him. He had a kind, encouraging smile on his face. Those were 2 expressions that I had never been given before now, and I wasn't sure what to do about it. But even so, I felt myself nod as I grasped Splinter's hand.

Splinter lead me into the room where the kitchen was. I could see Mikey moving around by the stove, and I could hear something sizzling in the pain in front of him. _Smells like butter. _Splinter had already helped me into one of the stool chairs before Mikey turned to look at me.

"Hey, Nia!" he said happily.

"Morning, Mikey," I said quietly. "What're you doing?"

"Making breakfast! He stated boldly. "Master Splinter says it's okay for me to use the stove by myself now! I've been practicing for months, and now I can make breakfast by myself," he clapped his hands together. "So, what do you want?"

I blinked. "Wh-what?"

"Yeah, what do you wanna eat? You name it, and I'll make it."

"Don't be over confident in the kitchen, my son," warned Splinter, who was grabbing a jug of orange juice from the fridge. "It could cloud your judgment, and you could get burned."

"Yes, Sensei," said Mikey, then whispered to me, "Seriously though, whatcha want? I can already make a lot of things, just name one."

I bit down on my bottom lip, fiddling with my fingers. I wasn't really sure what to ask for. Daddy almost never let me have breakfast, usually waking me up so I could immediately go do some chores. No matter if it was washing the dishes or doing the laundry, I usually didn't get a chance to eat until lunch. Sometimes I'd even wake up earlier so that I could eat something before he woke up.

"I don't really eat breakfast," I said finally. "I'm not sure what to choose…"

"Say no more!"

At once Mikey stood away from me and started running around the table excitedly. He circled the table about three times before skidding to a halt in front of the refrigerator. As he swung the door open and started rummaging through it, I turned my gaze to Splinter. By now he had poured five glasses of orange juice and was now filling a sixth. After filling the last one he picked the glass up in his hand and walked over to the table. He then se the medium sized cup down in front of me. I blinked, surprised at what I had been given. _Daddy never gave me juice… _I looked up at Splinter and he was smiling at me.

"Thank you."

He nodded. "You're welcome."

I looked down at my cup for a moment before slowly reaching out and grabbing it. I brought it close to me and gazed down at the orange liquid inside. After a few seconds I brought the cup up to my lips and took a small sip- a sip that soon turned into a big gulp when I realized how delicious the juice actually was. I can't remember ever having any juice in my life, and this was amazing.

After what felt like a few second I finally lowered the glass from my mouth, licking my lips to get any that might've been left. A small smile grew on my face as I turned my gaze to look at Mikey, who was busying himself over the stove. I watched as he took four eggs I his hands and broke them over the pan, the yellow yokes plopped onto the black surface, and the sizzling increased.

"Now, how should I make these eggs…?" then he snapped his fingers. "Duh! Scrambled!"

At once Mikey reached into an open drawer and took out a large spatula. He kissed the instrument before using it to chop and stir the eggs. Then…he started humming. It wasn't any particular song I had ever heard of, more like a random cluster of notes. But he continued to hum as he went to work with breakfast. He grabbed a near by bottle of pepper, plopped the lid off with his thumb, and started sprinkling it onto the eggs. Leaving the eggs to cook for a moment, he walked over to the counter were a loaf of bread and a small toaster sat. Mikey grabbed several slices and popped them into the toaster. Then he grabbed a nearby bag that said "Bacon" on it. He took out several slices of the meat and dropped them into a second smaller pan that was on the stove.

"No way! Mikey's making breakfast!"

I whipped my head around and saw Leo, Raph, and Donnie had all entered the kitchen. As soon as I looked at them they all looked back at me, and I was happy to see them all smile at me. Even Raph did(though his was smaller that Leo's and Donnie's).

"Good Morning, Nia," said Donnie as he took a seat next to me.

"Morning," I replied, then paused. "Wait, did you just call me 'Nia?'"

"Mikey said that's what we can call you," said Raph as he took the seat across from Donnie. "He said he called yah that last night and yah liked it. Is it cool that we call yah that?"

"Oh, yeah," I said, nodding. "I don't mind. I…I like 'Nia,' anyway."

"Told you guys I'm good with naming stuff!" Mikey called as he flipped the bacon strips over. "You should let me do it more often."

Leo finally came up to the talbe. He looked at all the remaining places before taking a seat across from me. He placed his hands on the table as he looked over at me.

"So, how's your leg?" he asked.

I glanced down at my bandaged leg. "Still hurts," I told him. "But Splinter said that it would be fine after a while."

"Will you be able to walk soon?" asked Donnie?"

"She will be fine, my sons," said Splinter, who was sitting in a chair at the end of the table. "Lavinia needs time to heal, but she will walk again. She may need some help moving around for some time, though."

"I don't mind helping her," piped up Donnie.

"Me neither," said Leo.

I blushed slightly when the guys acted so egger to help me. It was so sweet of them. I looked over at Raph, who seemed to be looking down in his lap. He glanced up at me and blinked when he saw me staring. He gulped, and gave a small nod.

"I can help, too."

"So can I!"

I turned just in time to see Mikey drop a big bowl full of scrambled eggs in the middle of the table. A second later there was a plate of bacon and a plate full of toast with jam.

"Dig in!" Mikey shouted, hopping into the empty seat next to me.

"Impressive, Michelangelo," said Splinter. "Considering this is your first time making breakfast by yourself, this looks very good."

"Thanks, Sensei."

I stared, awestruck and jaw open at the sight laid out before me. I had never been presented with this much yummy-looking stuff in all my life. Daddy hardly gave me any breakfast ever, so of course, this was all so surprising to me.

"What is the matter, Lavinia?" I heard Splinter ask. "Are you not hungry?"

I blinked and glanced up at the table. By now all of the others had filled their plates with eggs and were now going for the bacon. Even Splinter had some toast on his plate.

"Yes," I said quietly. "But…I don't know what to take…"

"You can take a bit of each thing, if you want," said Leo.

"I can?"

"Totally!" Mikey reached over and grabbed the bowl of scrambled eggs, bringing it over towards me. "C'mon, Nia! Have some eggs!"

I gazed at the bowl full of egg, then looked up at Mikey's face. He had an excited, but patient look on his green, freckled face, and as I looked around I saw that the others had the same waiting look. I looked over at Splinter last, and I waited for some kind of response to what was happening. He smiled at me, and nodded, gesturing to the bowl Mikey was offering.

"Please, have some breakfast, Lavinia," he said. "You must be very hungry."

I turned back to Mikey, who was still pushing the bowl, little by little, towards me. I stared off, thinking about all that had happened in the pass couple of hours. These people had brought me into their home, taken care of my injuries, let me sleep on their couch, and they were now allowing me to eat their food. How can these people have so much kindness in them? Why was I being treated so nicely when I had been treated so poorly all my life? Why me?

But instead of asking these questions, I reached forward for the large bowl. As I grabbed a spoonful of egg, I felt a smile grow on my face.

"I'm starving," I admitted.

* * *

><p>(3 days after arrival)<p>

Mikey's P.O.V.

This is the coolest thing ever! Nia's been down here with us for three days now, and it is awesome! It's so cool having someone new around here. Don't get me wrong, I love my bros and my Sensei, but everything was started to get a bit…dull. And dull is not cool! But now we got this awesome girl staying with us, and what's more, she's not afraid or freaked out about us at all! She treats us like we're completely normal! It's totally awesome! What's even more awesome is that she's a super cool sweetheart. No, seriously, she's like, the nicest person you could ever meet. She hasn't complained, had any issues, caused any problems, and me and the guys all like her already. She's still a little shy around us, but that'll ware off after a while.

I was in the living room playing with a small toy truck I found in the sewers a while back. It was small, small enough to fit in my hand, and it was dark blue. I was just rolling it around the floor when I noticed Nia sitting quietly on the couch. She was just sitting there, staring off into space. She was like, zoned out and stuff. She didn't look uncomfortable or anything, but I could tell she was bored. I mean, how could she not be? She's basically stuck on the couch until she can walk again, and that won't be for another week or so, at least.

I glanced down at the truck in my hands, then back at Nia's still form. Then a smile grew on my face. _Idea!_ I turned unto my stomach and started to army crawl towards the couch. I placed my truck on the ground and rolled it around as I crawled on the floor, making loud driving noises. As I got closer and closer to the couch Nia slowly turned her head to look at me. She smiled and giggled when she saw me.

"Hi, Mikey. What're you doing?"

"Fun stuff," I told her as I crouch next to the couch. "Watch…"

She turned a little more and waited for me to do something. I smiled as I brought my truck back up to the edge of the couch, directly next to Nia's shoulder.

"Ahh! It's a giant girl!" I squealed, making my voice high pitched, and I shook the car a little. "Where did she come from? What will she do to us?"

I glanced up at Nia, hoping she would catch on. She stared at blinked at me a few times, then her mouth fell open slightly as she gave a small "Oh…." She smiled and raised her hands up in the air above my truck.

"Grr! I'm a mean, old giant!"

"Oh no, someone save us!" I squeaked again. "Please, don't let the giant eat us!"

Nia paused. Then she waved her arms around a little and reached for the truck, making more growling noises. I squealed and wailed as I pretended to be the poor guy that was going to get eaten. After a bit of swaying, Nia reached down and grabbed the car. I let go of it and placed my hands on my head.

"Oh, no! She's got us! She's gonna eat us!"

Nia lifted the truck up to her face and pretended to take a bite out of it.

"NO! She's eating us…!" I rolled onto my back and threw my arms in the air. "We're doomed! Doomed…!"

Nia finally stopped role-playing to lean her head back and laugh. I smiled at her as I rolled onto my stomach.

"Ah-ha! I knew you knew how to play!"

"Why wouldn't I?" she asked. "I got to play a little at home. I just never had anyone to play with."

I folded my arms on the ground and rested my chin in them. "Well, you do now."

Nia blinked, smiling widely. Then she looked down at the blue truck in her hands and examined it closely.

"Cool truck," she said. "Where'd you get it?"

"Found it in the sewers a while ago," I told her. "It was super cool and Sensei let me keep it. There was another one next to it, but it was broken. I couldn't keep it. I wish I did, though. I'd love to have another car."

"Maybe you'll find one someday."

"Yeah, maybe."

We sat still for a few moments. Things were very quiet with not playing going on or anything. It was weird, and I didn't like it too much. Nia must've been thinking the same thing because she nudged me to get my attention.

"C'mon, you be the giant this time."

I beamed at her. This was going to be fun! I knew having her here would be awesome.

* * *

><p>(1 week after arrival)<p>

Donnie's P.O.V.

I had just walked out of my room, reading one of my books. I had basically been locked in my room all day with nothing else to do. I was planning on just reading in there, but Sensei said that I couldn't stay locked in my room forever. So I had taken my book with me when I walked out.

I heard and excited squeak and I looked up from my book. From here I could see Mikey sitting next to Nia on the couch. They appeared to be watching another one of Mikey's cartoons. Even from this distance I could see him clutching onto Nia's arm, shaking her slightly.

"Ooh! I love this part!" he squealed.

I heard Nia giggle, and I rolled my eyes as I looked back down into my book. Though I wasn't looking, my feet were guiding me towards the kitchen. Maybe I could read peacefully in there. I mean, Sensei only said I had to stay out of my room, he didn't say anything about not going somewhere else.

"Hi, Donnie."

I froze and whipped my head around. It wasn't Mikey who had spoken my name. It was Nia. She had turned around and was looking at me, a small smile on her face.

"Oh, hi Nia."

"Hey, bro!" Mikey called when he relized I was there. "We're watching cartoons, come watch with us."

I gave a small shrug. _Eh, why not? _I walked over and sat down next to Nia. For a few seconds, I looked at the silly cartoon the other two were watching before sighing and looking back down into my book. _So much for reading in peace._

"What're you reading?"

I blinked and whipped my head around to stare at Nia. She flinched slightly at my fast movement. Was she actually more interested in what I was reading than what Mikey was watching? He was practically gazing at it with drool coming down his chin. And yet, she had completely turned away from the screen to look at me. I glanced down at my book, then turned to completely face her.

"It's just a book I found in the sewers a few weeks ago," I told her.

I closed the book and held it up to show her the blue cover with yellow polka-dots all over it. The title was labeled "Tales of Dinosaurs." It was a small children's book filled with different descriptions of dinosaurs and their lifestyle. Nia eyed the book with what looked like a curious gaze.

"You like dinosaurs?" she asked.

"Yeah, kinda," I admitted. "A while back I started watching this science channel, and everything on there is so cool! They showed a couple episodes on dinosaurs, and they were awesome! And I wanna know as much as I can."

I smiled slightly as Nia gave a small nod. She didn't seem to be as fascinated with this as I was, but she seemed genuinely interested, all the same. She was definitely more interested than my brothers, that's for sure.

"Well, what's in the book?" she asked, sounding even more curious.

"Loads of stuff!" I leaned in a little as I opened the book so I could show her where I was reading. "There's all kinds of stories about dinosaurs. What kinds there where, how they lived, what they ate, and how they disappeared! Look! That's my favorite one!"

I pointed down at the picture in the middle of the book. It was a painted image of a huge dinosaur, with a huge body and an extremely long neck.

"It's a Diplodocus," I explained. "A longneck dinosaur, and it's the longest one ever. It eats stuff like bushes, tree leaves, and-"

"Donnie, I'm watching TV!" Mikey whined.

I frowned at him before looking back up at Nia. "Yeah…it's a really cool book. The others don't really like this stuff, but…I do…"

Suddenly feeling nervous, I lowered my head down. My face started feeling really warm, I must be blushing. _Geez, why did I have to do all that? She probably thinks I'm a big nerd now, just like the others…_

"Well, I think it's cool, too."

I must've blinked several hundred times before I snapped my head up. "You do?"

Nia smiled, and nodded. "Yeah, I do."

I felt nothing but complete shock in that moment, but that was instantly replaced with joy, and I could tell that it showed on my face. Nia's smile seemed to widen as happiness filled me up. None of my brothers were ever interested in the same stuff I was, they just thought I was being a boring nerd. Sensei liked listening to me ramble about the stuff in my books, but he did have the same fascination I had with them. Now, this girl who I've only known for a week tells me she likes some of the stuff I do. I mean, it's only one of the many things I like, but it was enough for me!

"Um, Donnie?" Nia spoke up a little quietly.

"Yeah?"

She bit her bottom lip. "Can… Can you read it to me? Please…?"

If it was possible I felt my smile widen even more. I nodded quickly, and Nia smiled, too. I scooted over to her a little more as she rested her arm on the back of the couch. I flipped the small book to the front, cleared my throat a little, and began to read.

I ended up reading the whole book to Nia, and Mikey didn't interrupt us even once.

* * *

><p><strong>Aww! Super cute, right? Now, don't worry. The next chapter is gonna have some bonding stuff with Raph, Leo and Splinter in it, so do not fret. Also, at this point it looks like there's going to be two more chapters of this prequel stuff before i actually get to the season 1 stuff. I hope that's not a problem.<strong>

**Welp! I got stories to write! Chow, yall! :)**


	3. Just Some Training

**Hey peeps! Waddup? So...Listen. I've been doing some serious thinking on this story and future stories for the other seasons. And... Um, how do i put this?**

**I'm changing the title.**

**Yep, you heard me. I've already got the titles for the first three seasons written out. Here they are:**

**Prologue**** and Season 1(this story): It's now known as "The Interesting Life of Lavinia."  
>Season 2: <em>That one<em> will be known as "The Secret Life of Lavinia." (Reason? _That's _the story where secrets will be revealed)  
>Season 3: Will be known as "The Complicated Life of Lavinia." (Reason? ...Well, you've seen the episodes so far. Things are gonna get complicated.)<strong>

**So, there yah have it. Sorry for not doing all of this earlier. Things like this always happen after i post something, and i HATE it so much! Don't you?**

**...**

**What? That's never happened to you?**

***you shake your head***

**Oh. Well then... Ahem! Anywho! I've got the next chapter for yah, and I hope you like it. Read along.**

* * *

><p>Prologue: Part 3<br>Just Some Training

(2 weeks after arrival)

Raph's P.O.V.

It's been two weeks since we brought Nia to the lair. We all pretty much got along with her, and she was real sweet to us. Shy as heck, but sweet. Here leg had gotten better, too. By the end of the first week she was able to walk with a crutch on her own. I was hoping that she would be able to walk on her own by the end of this week, but she was still using a crutch. I asked Splinter about it and he just told me that she needed a little more time to heal. I wanted her to get better, but she was taking so long. Maybe she just needs a little push to help her.

And that night, I found out that I was right.

I was just laying in my bed trying to fall asleep when I heard it. It sounded like somebody falling and then making painful noises. I knew that none of my brothers or my Sensei would be up at this time, so I figured it must've been Nia. Maybe she fell on her way to the bathroom or something. I wanted to make sure she was okay, so I got up and walked out of my room to see what was wrong. I barley made it out of the hallway when I saw her. She was lying on the ground on her stomach, her crutch laying next to her.

"Nia?"

Nia whipped her head around to look at me, shock written all over her face.

"Raph! I- I can explain-"

She quickly grabbed her crutch and tried to push herself up to her feet, but she ended up falling back down. Not wasting anytime, I ran up to her and grabbed her by her arms, gently helping her up to her feet. She quickly put the crutch under her arm and leaned on it.

"Thanks…" she muttered.

"No problem," I said lowly. "You're lucky I was still awake. What're yah doin' out here anyway?"

Nia's face turned pink as she lowered her head down. Something was bugging her, and I needed to know. I frowned at her as I folded my arms.

"I ain't leavin' 'till you start talkin', so spill it."

Nia glanced up at me, her dark brown eyes wide with fear. She closed them and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"I…I've been trying to walk…"

I blinked. "Huh?"

"I've been trying to walk, okay?" she repeated. "I've been trying to walk by myself for a few days now, trying to get better. But…I didn't wanna do it in front of you guys. I didn't want you seeing how clumsy I am. So… I've been practicing at night so you guys wouldn't have to see me."

I stared at her, hardly able to believe it. I was so shocked my arms unfolded without me realizing it. It all made sense now. Why she went to sleep earlier than us, why she seemed exhausted in the morning, and why she had started getting better little by little. But whatever she was doing for practice, it wasn't working fully. Seeing her fall down just now proved that.

"Yah planning on practicing if I leave?" I asked her.

"I plan on practicing even if you don't leave," she said a little boldly.

I blinked, slightly surprised by her tone. It was probably the most forceful she's ever been so far. It wasn't much, but it was enough to notice. Nia seemed to have noticed as well, because she blushed again and looked away. I sighed.

"Let me help."

Nia looked at me, tilting her head slightly. "What?"

"Let me help," I repeated. "Yah can't keep doing this by yourself. Besides… I wanna help yah."

Nia blushed even more, her face now going red. "Please, you don't have to…"

"But I _want _to," I told her, and when she opened her mouth to protest, I continued, "Look, I know what I'm doing. I twisted my ankle a while back, and Sensei helped me walk again. I'll just do what he did and you'll be fine. Okay?"

Nia bit down on her bottom lip as she glanced down at the floor. She was clearly thinking it over. I appreciated her not wanting to be a burden on me, but, she didn't need to. _Seriously, just accept help when it's given already. Yah ain't gotta be so sweet all the time._ It was only about a few moments more before she looked up at me and finally nodded.

"Okay…if you're sure."

I nodded. _Okay, now what did Sensei do first…? Hmm…Oh yeah! _I walked over to Nia and held my hands out to her.

"Okay… take my hands."

Nia nodded, then reached out with her right hand to grasped mine, her left one still grasping onto the crutch. I shook my head.

"Your other one, too."

"What about the crutch?"

"Just drop it."

She blinked at me, clearly confused. But after a few moments she lifted her arm and the crutch clattered to the floor. Nia quickly grabbed onto my other hand as she wobbled on her right leg. She grasped my wrists tightly, and I held onto her to keep her balanced. Once she stopped wobbling and was able to stand still, we were ready to start. Remembering what Sensei did for me, I took a few steps back so that we were arms length apart.

"Alright… Now, slowly put your left foot on the ground."

Nia nodded. She slowly and gently lowered her foot until it was flat on the floor, but still not supporting any weight.

"Okay, now take a step forward with it."

Nia glanced up at me then back at the floor. She hesitated, then moved her left foot and took a step forward. As soon as her foot hit the ground again she let out a choked gasp. I knew from experience what she was feeling. Her leg might not hurt when she walked, but it was probably still very uncomfortable.

"Take another step. Slowly…"

I felt Nia grip my wrists a little tighter as she gave a small nod. In one second she lifted her right foot, leaving all of her weight on her left, and put it back on her right quickly. As she did this I took a small step back, keeping the same distance between us.

"Keep going," I encouraged her.

She nodded, and took another step with her left. This step was shakier than the last, but she managed to get to her right foot quick enough.

This went on for a few moments. She'd take a step forward, and I'd take one back. Nia was doing okay, but each step on her left foot got shakier and shakier. She had taken another step with her left foot when it happened. Nia gave a surprised gasp as she toppled down onto her knees, still gripping tightly onto my wrist and dragging me down a bit. Nia started shaking slightly and I thought I heard her sob.

"I t-told you…" she stuttered, sounding like she was crying. "I'm c-clumsy…"

"It's okay!" I said quickly, kneeling in front of her. "You're gonna fall a couple times, but that's okay. You ain't gotta be embarrassed, I don't care!"

Nia finally stopped shaking, but she was still sniffling loudly, her head hung low. I released one of my hands from hers and placed it on her shoulder, squeezing it gently. She slowly lifted her head up, and her eyes were shining with unshed tears. She blinked, and a tear fell down her right cheek. I was frozen in shock. None of us had seen Nia cry even a bit since the day she came here, and that was only because she had a broken leg. Now she was crying just because she was embarrassed… But, she had no reason to be. The fact that she was even out here trying to get better gave her every reason to be proud of herself.

Unconsciously, I lifted my hand up from her shoulder and wiped the tear away. Her brows furrowed, and she looked a little confused.

"You ain't gotta be embarrassed," I said again, gripping her shoulder. "You're out here tryin' to walk, tryin' to get better, and that's good. I never expected you to do somethin' like this. The fact that you're out here proves that yah got guts, that yah tough. And… I think that's awesome."

She blinked, sniffing as she wiped her nose with her sleeve. "Y-you think?"

"Yeah! Being tough is really cool, don't yah think?"

She gave a small nod. "Yeah, I guess."

Nia gazed up at me, and a small, genuine smile appeared on her face. I stared at her for a moment, then I felt myself smile. This surprised even me. I usually didn't smile unless I got something that I wanted. So, what did I want this time? I wanted her to not be upset, that's for sure. But…did I really want to see her smile? Is that why I was smiling? Well, whatever reason it was…I didn't seem to mind at all.

"C'mon," I said, breaking the silence. "Let's try again."

Nia nodded. "Yeah… Okay."

* * *

><p>(1 month after arrival)<p>

Leo's P.O.V.

It's been one month since we brought Nia to our home. Things have been different since she came. Not in a bad way, but a really good way. Once she stopped being so nervous around us we saw that she was a very bright, very sweet girl. Turns out she was only shy around strangers, but much more open with people she was familiar with.

Before heading to the kitchen I went to find Nia sleeping on the couch, where she had been sleeping since she arrived. She was curled up into a little ball under the blanket, her head the only thing exposed as it lay down on the tiny pillow. I slowly walked over next to her and gently shook her shoulder.

"Nia… Wake up…"

After a few moments of nothing but feeble stirs and moans, Nia finally opened her eyes, exposing her small, dark brown orbs. She looked at me for a moment before she smiled.

"Hi, Leo…"

I smiled at her. "Time to get up, Nia. Don't you want breakfast?"

"Yes, please."

Nia uncurled herself and slowly sat up, letting the blanket fall off her shoulders. She reared her head back and let out a loud yawn as she stretched out her arms. I looked down at her, taking note of the new, light green nightgown she wore. Shortly after her arrival, Sensei had gone up to the surface one night and had managed to get a few sets of cloths from a donation building that had tons of free cloths for poor people. He didn't get a lot, just a few sets of cloths and the new set of pajamas she was now wearing, but Nia said it was more than enough for her. After glancing at her new gown I looked at the rest of her. When Nia first came here she had been very skinny, like she had not eaten in ages. Now that she had stayed with us for a while(and was left to the mercy of Mikey's cooking) she had grown a little more. Her collarbone and her elbows no longer poked out from underneath her skin, and her face had gotten slightly plumper. To sum it all up, she looked a lot healthier tan before. What was more, after the first three weeks she was finally able to walk by herself. She had abandoned her crutch and was walking around just fine. She still had a small limp, but Sensei said it would go away in time, and I was willing to wait.

"What's Mikey making?" Nia asked, rubbing her eyes.

"I think he said he's making omelets."

"Yay!" Nia jeered happily, then blushed and lowered her head. "I mean… sounds great."

I smiled and gave a small nod behind me, telling her to 'come on.' Nia stood up and followed me to the kitchen. When we got there we saw that Raph and Donnie were already in their seats, glasses of orange juice next to all of the chairs, and Mikey was at the stove and was receiving help from Sensei.

"Careful, Michelangelo," Sensei said warningly, but still calmly. "Ready… now."

Mikey gave a loud squeak as he jerked his pan up, causing the closed omelet to flip in the air. A second later the omelet landed back in the pan on the opposite side. Mikey, who had been closing his eyes due to excitement, peeked inside the pan, and when he saw the omelet was unharmed he squealed again.

"I did it! I did it!"

"Very good, my son," said Sensei. "Your cooking skills have become very impressive."

"Thanks, Sensei!"

I couldn't help but smile. Mikey seemed to be great in the kitchen, and he definitely loved getting compliments from Sensei about it. _At least his food tastes good. _I went to my usual spot on the table and sat in the chair next to Raph. Nia was about to sit in her chair next to Donnie when Mikey made another squeak.

"Nia!"

A second later Mikey had pounced onto Nia, latching his arms around her in a hug. To someone else this might've seemed unusual, but it had become a sort of routine for us. See, a week ago, me and Mikey were hanging out with Nia after our morning training, and she had asked Mikey why he had hugged her. He said he was just being friendly. Well, one thing led to another and Nia ended up admitting that the hug Mikey had given her was the first hug she had ever had. This shocked us both, but Mikey was the only one to act. When he found out he had wailed like a baby before running up and hugging her. Nia had been surprised, but eventually hugged him back. They had stayed there like that for a good few minutes before moving at all. But when Nia had tried to end the hug Mikey wouldn't let her go("All these years without hugs? And you think I'm gonna let you go now? Girl, you're crazy!"). we managed to get him off of her eventually, but I'd had a feeling he wasn't done. Sure enough, every morning since the incident, Mikey has been greeting Nia with one of his rib-crushing hugs that she seems to just love.

"Morning, Mikey," she said, smiling as Mikey hugged her.

"Morning!" he chirped as he let her go. "Got here just in time. I just made your omelet."

"Awesome."

Mikey ran back to the stove as Nia sat in her seat next to Donnie. We all sipped on our juice as we waited for our omelets. Within a few moments Sensei and Mikey had laid out all of our plates. They were simple ham and cheese omelets, but they were good, nonetheless. Things went on like they usually did; Mikey joked around with Nia, Raph stabbed at his omelet as he ate, and Donnie sat quietly while he ate his food. Halfway into our meal though, Nia had a question for Sensei.

"Um, Master Splinter?"

Nia had started using his name once she was more comfortable around us.

"Yes, Lavinia?"

"Uh… Is it, um, okay if I watch you guys train today?"

I coughed a little on my omelet and turned to look at her. Did Nia really want to watch us all train today? Did she really? I mean, she had known about Sensei training us to be ninjas for a while now, but she had never actually watched us yet. Whether or not she was shy or didn't want to at first, I didn't know, and she didn't tell. But now that she wanted to watch us I was starting to feel excited.

"Of course, Lavinia," said Sensei. "You never have to ask to watch us. I think it would be nice for my sons to have an audience. Assuming, of course, they do not have an issue with-"

"We don't mind!" I piped up quickly. "Right guys?"

"Not at all!" said Donnie.

"Heck yeah!" said Mikey.

"Sure," said Raph.

Okay, now I was really excited, and it seems like I'm not the only one. No one but Sensei had ever watched us train, and that was only so he could lecture us and teach us more. This was going to be awesome.

As soon as we were done eating Sensei told us all to go into the dojo. I wasted no time in putting up my plate and making my way to the dojo as fast as I could. I was in there and kneeling on the rug before Sensei even walked in. I sat there and drummed my fingers on my legs as all the others walked in. Raph, Donnie, and Mikey all kneeled down next to me, waiting to begin our training. Sensei walked over to his usual spot by the tree, Nia following him closely. He placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling as he gave her a small nod. She grinned slightly as she sat on the ground by his feet, crossing her legs. Sensei smiled down at her before looking at us.

"Today you will be practicing the forms I showed you yesterday," he said. "You will focus on your form and the timing in your strikes. You will work separately, then you'll practice with one-on-one."

"Hai, Sensei," we all said in unison.

"Good. Now, get in position."

We all stood up, staying in our line as we held our arms at our sides.

"Hajime!"

And we started. For the next 10 minutes we redid our positions and forms over and over again. When I wasn't focusing on my form I would glance over at Nia, watcher reactions. She would always be starting at us, looking impressed and amazed at what we were doing. For some reason seeing that look on her face made me swell with pride.

"Yame!"

The second we heard this we all stopped what we were doing and stood still.

"Very good," said Splinter. "Now, pair up."

Today I paired up with Donnie while Raph paired up with Mikey. They stood by one end of the mat while we stood by the other. We all took a stance and waited.

"Hajime!"

I went at Donnie first. I raised my fist up to punch his face, and he ducks he head as he blocks it. I raised my other fist to punch his chest and he blocks it with his arm. He tried to aim a punch at my side, but I managed to block it. I raised my fist again to give him an uppercut, but I stop at the last second and use my other fist to go for his gut. I finally make contact and I hit him in his stomach. Donnie made a loud "oof" sound as he stumbled back a bit. Feeling curious I turned to look over at Nia. She was looking over at us, a look of amazement on her face. She saw me looking at her and she smiled at me, clapping her hands lightly. I beamed at her.

For the next 30 minutes me and my brotherss continued to practice our skills. We switched parteners a couple of times, and I fought with Raph and Mikey as well. By the time I was fighting with Raph(I got him last) training was almost over, and Nia was leaning over with her chin in her hands, gazing at us as we trained.

"Yame!"

We all stopped without hesitation. Raph looked angry, but lowered his fist instead of finishing his punch. We stood in our line as Sensei walked in front of us.

"You all did very well today," he said. "Your skills have improved, and they continue to improve each time you train. We will continued training another time."

"Hai, Sensei," we all said in unison.

He nodded. "You may go."

We all bowed respectively to our Sensei. But when he walked away, instead of walking out of the dojo, I walked over to Nia, who was just getting up from her spot.

"So, how'd you like it?" I asked her.

"It was amazing!" she exclaimed happily. "Really, I didn't know you guys could do stuff like that!"

"Thanks," I said. "But, it's not as much as you think. We've only been training since we were six. It's not always easy, but we're getting way better."

"I can tell. You looked awesome out there."

I blinked in surprise. My face started to heat up and I scratched the back of my neck nervously.

"G-gee, thanks," I stuttered, and I quickly cleared my throat. "I mean… Thanks, Nia. You know, I can't wait to learn everything about being a ninja."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Someday I wanna be a great ninja master, just like Sensei!"

Nia tilted her head to the side slightly, a small smile on her face. I rubbed my neck, feeling a little more nervous than before.

"I-I know… it sounds silly…"

"No, no, it's not!" she said quickly. "It's sounds really cool! I mean, you looked pretty awesome. If you keep practicing and working hard you could be a master someday!"

I blinked several times as I stared at Nia. I couldn't believe it. None of my brothers said things like that. They all either joked or just ignored me. Nia's words seemed too good to be true. But the look in her eyes and the smile on her face told me that she was telling the truth. She honestly thought that I was awesome with my training, and that if I worked hard enough I could be a master one day. That fact alone was enough to make me smile at her.

"Thanks Nia."

She smiled warmly at me, blinking her brown eyes at me. _Well, now that training's done we can hang out now. But, what should we do._

"So, um… You wanna watch 'Space Heroes'?"

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. As soon as I said them I regretted it. _Stupid! She doesn't wanna watch that! The guys all think it's stupid, especially Raph. She's gonna think it's stupid and make fun of you and-_

"What's 'Space Heroes'?"

"It's…. it's a new cartoon on TV. I started watching it a few weeks ago, and, erm… I think it's and awesome show, but you'll think it's stupid…"

"Well, I haven't seen it yet, so how would you know?" she asked.

She did have a point. I didn't even think about the fact that she probably hadn't even seen an episode of 'Space Heroes' yet. Maybe she wouldn't think it was stupid. Maybe she would like it. Maybe I could finally have someone to watch my show with. The thought made me feel a little hopeful.

"Well… do you want to?" I asked. "There's always a show on around now."

She smiled. "Sure, why not?"

I beamed at her once more, and by now it felt like my face was going to burst. She actually wanted to watch 'Space Heroes' with me. She really wanted to! I've finally found someone who'll watch my show. _This is gonna be awesome!_

* * *

><p>(1 month and 2 weeks after arrival)<p>

Splinter's P.O.V.

I was currently sitting quietly on the rug in my room, just finishing my nighttime meditation. Clearing your mind is always a good way to help you sleep; keeps you calm and at peace. Although, a nice cup of green tea does work some miracles; always very soothing. And it is that reason why I started making some tea right after my meditation. I had used the small heater and an old kettle to make some green tea. I might've put more water than necessary, but I suppose there was nothing wrong with having two cups of tea instead of only one.

I had just put the teabags into the water to sit, when I heard a strange noise. It sounded like…footsteps. But they were quieter, as though someone was sneaking around. But not quiet enough. I slowly walked away from my kettle towards the door of my room. As I did, the noise grew slightly louder. The person seemed to be taking a certain number of steps, pausing every few seconds, then stepping again. When I was right at my door, I pressed my ear to the surface, and listened.

"Come on! How did he do it? …Okay, maybe- No, it was like this… No…!"

Even with such hushed whispers, I recognized the voice. _Lavinia? _Now feeling curious, I grabbed the door and slowly, ever so slightly slid it open. I peeked my head out, and blinked. It was Lavinia. She was standing in the middle of the dojo, and…

I stared in surprise. She was mimicking the forms I had been teaching my sons all week. She was right there, in the same stance, making the same movements. But every time she tried, she'd always sulk and let out an irritated groan.

"Geez, how hard can it be? I've been watching them train for weeks, why is it so hard?"

I let out a soft chuckle. I couldn't help myself. _Such an adorable little girl. _No longer feeling the need to keep myself hidden, I decided to make my presence known, and I slid the door open more as I took a step out.

"Having trouble, Lavinia?"

Lavinia gasped and practically jumped into the air when I spoke. Again, I couldn't resist the chuckled that escaped me.

"I'm terribly sorry, child! I did not mean to frighten you."

"M-master Splinter!" Lavinia brushed herself off, regaining her balance again. "I-I… I'm sorry… I can explain… I-I didn't mean to…"

Lavinia continued to stutter on for a few more seconds, looking frantic. Finally, she just closed her eyes and hung her head in what appeared to be shame.

"I'm sorry… I now I shouldn't be in here. I'll…I'll go…"

Keeping her head down, she folded her arms, turned around, and started heading for the exist.

"You're footing was off."

Lavinia stopped walking at once, and her head shot up. She slowly turned to look at me, a confused look on her face.

"Huh…?"

"Your footing; it was slightly off," I folded my arms behind me as I walked towards her. "Here, I'll show you. Try the position again."

Lavinia blinked a few times, still looking confused. After a few seconds though, she nodded. She slowly spread her feet on the rug and got into a fighting stance. She glanced over at me, a nervous look on her face. I rubbed my chin as I walked over towards her.

"Mhm… I thought so," I muttered, then looked at her. "Your feet are off, but only slightly. Move your right foot ahead of you more, and move your left foot out to the side a little."

She nodded, quickly fixing her footing as I instructed. Once she did her stance looked much better, almost exactly how it was suppose to be.

"Try doing the form now."

She nodded. In one slow, but fluid movement, Lavinia did the form I had been teaching my sons for a week… and performed it perfectly. I blinked and stared in amazement as she finished the form with great accuracy. She turned her head to face me, a hopeful smile on her face. I smiled at her.

"Very good, Lavinia," I said. "I'm surprised at how well you performed that move."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

Lavinia beamed at me, looking thrilled by what I had said. Seeing that look on her face, I couldn't help but smile down at her. She continued to smile at me until she realized she was staring at me. Her cheeks went pink and she lowered her head. I raised my brows.

"Is something wrong, Lavinia?"

Lavinia looked over at the wall, scratching her arm nervously. Even from this angle I could see her biting down on her bottom lip.

"I, um… I'm sorry if I woke you-"

But she was cut off as a loud whistle sounded from my room. I turned my head a little. The tea was finally ready. I glanced back over at Lavinia.

"Actually, I was just making some tea," I tilted my head slightly. "Would you care to join me?"

"Oh, uh… Yes, thank you."

I nodded. "Wait here."

I turned around and entered my room. I walked over to the kettle that was still whistling and took it off the small burner. The steam flowed out, and the calming aroma filled my nose. I then took out two round cups and set them both on a small tray. I slowly poured an even amount into each one before setting the kettle back down.

"Lavinia," I called gently.

"Coming."

As I waited for her to come in I walked over to one side of the ray and sat down. I looked up at the door just as Lavinia walked in. She stood in the doorway as she gazed around the room, her mouth slightly open. As her eyes finally fell on me I smiled at her, and gestured my hand in front of me.

"Please, sit."

She nodded, and slowly walked over to the tray. She sat down with her legs crossed and her arms at her sides. She was biting her lip again. I noticed she did that very often. I suspected she did that whenever she was nervous or thinking hard.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her.

"It's… Well…" she sighed. "I'm really sorry if I'm bugging you, Master Splinter. I thought you were asleep and-"

I raised my hand up slightly, and she stopped talking.

"Lavinia, in all the time that you've stayed here you have never been a burden in any way, shape, or form. There is no shame in coming here. Even if you simply just wish to talk, you are always welcomed."

I slowly lowered my hand as I finished speaking. Lavinia stared at me, looking surprised and a little relieved. I reaised my hand again, gesturing to her cup of tea, asking her to take it. She stared down at it, hesitated, then finally reached forward and grasped the cup. I smiled as I grabbed my own and lifted it up. I watched Lavinia blow inside her cup before she took a sip, and I did as well. I took a long, slowly gulp before lowering the cup from my face. Lavinia still had the cup to her face, making soft sipping sounds. I raised my eyebrow slightly as she finally lowered the cup, and her eyes were closed as a small grin appeared on her face. I let out yet another chuckle. _Is there any way this child _can't _make me laugh?_

"So, tell me," I began. "What exactly were you doing in the dojo?"

Lavinia opened her eyes. "Oh. Well… I was trying to do those moves that you've been teaching the boys all week. It looked cool, and I wanted to try it."

"How long have you been doing this?"

"Since Monday, when you taught it to them."

"Hmm…" I took another gulp from my tea. "Well, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that after your footing was fixed you performed it perfectly."

"I…I did?"

"Yes. You just needed a little help with your feet."

I grinned as Lavinia blushed, but not as nervous this time.

"I'm used to doing things on my own I guess," she said, shrugging. "That's how it always was. I mean, with daddy…"

She trailed off, and her face fell from her happy look into a look of nervousness. She even started biting her lip again. She quickly raised the cup to her face, taking long gulps. I narrowed my eyes. This is a subject that I had been wanting to understand more; Lavinia's _father. _I say it like that because I had a feeling he was never very fatherly towards her in any way. I had been wanting to ask Lavinia about it, wanting to know how bad her situation at her old home was. But, abuse was such a delicate matter, especially when a child is involved. The child may not understand completely, but any abusing done unto them could have any kind of affect on them. Even bringing the subject up could cause the child to feel insecure, even unsafe. It had to be at the right time, at the right moment. The child had to be assured that no harm of any kind would come to them. Only then would they feel comfortable in confessing the truth.

"Lavinia…"

She lowered the cup slightly, blinking her brown eyes up at me.

"Do you remember your first night here? Remember when I told you that you would safe here?"

Lavinia nodded.

"And I told you that no harm would come to you?"

She nodded again.

"Then you have nothing to be afraid, ashamed, or embarrassed of," I smiled gently. "You understand that, don't you?"

She nodded a third time. "Yes, I do. Why?"

I didn't answer for a moment. I took a final gulp from my tea, nearly draining the rest of it in one gulp. But I swallowed it slowly, letting the tea calm me; preparing me for what was coming. When I had drained the cup except for a few sips, I lowered it and placed it on the tray. I then placed my hands on my knees, inhaling and exhaling slowly.

"Lavinia, I am going to ask you about something. Something that you may or may not be ready to answer, and if so, I beg that you'll tell me."

Lavinia lowered her cup almost to the ground, looking up at me with a confused look. She appeared to have gulped, and she nodded.

"Okay… What is it?"

I sighed. "Lavinia… I need you to tell me about your father."

Lavinia inhaled sharply, a shocked look appearing on her face. She bit down on her lip as she hunched over, looking as if she was trying to hide herself away.

"Wh-what about him?" she stuttered.

I took a deep breath. "I need to know what he does to you, child," I told her. "How many times has he hurt you?"

Lavinia glanced up at me, keeping her head down as she did. She didn't answer me, and she gave no indication of wanting to speak. But I had to ask another question.

"Lavinia, the night that you came here- the night your father hurt your leg… Was that the first time he ever hurt you?"

Slowly, Lavinia shook her head, and my fears were confirmed. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to continue.

"Can you remember the first time he ever hurt you?"

She nodded again. But then- I had not expected her to do so- she spoke.

"I was four years-old. I was washing dishes after daddy ate dinner. He started drinking this weird stuff out of a brown bottle…"

_Alcohol… _I thought to myself.

"He came in the kitchen and started yelling at me," she fiddled with her hands. "I don't know why… I was doing what he said… He started throwing a couple plates, and one of them broke. He… threw it at… at me…"

She paused. Then her hand came up and grabbed onto her right shoulder. A second later she started to roll up her sleeve. I sat there and waited for what she was doing. She pulled her sleeve up to reveal her shoulder, and I was not prepared for what I saw. Right down the center of her shoulder was a long, pale scar. It wasn't even half an inch thick, but it was big enough to be noticed.

I sat there, speechless by what I had heard and what I had seen. I didn't know what to do or say. I had had a feeling that her situation was bad, but I wasn't sure how bad. I've never had any experience with this type of situation, but I could tell that it was worse than what Lavinia was letting on. This… _man_, was the lowest of the low. He had committed one of the most disgusting sins; harming an innocent child. I had grown up in a peaceful home with very loving parents, and the knowledge of any kind of abuse was unknown to me until I had reached my teenage years. Any kind of abuse was disgusting and horrible in my opinion, and when it involves a child… Sure, I disciplined my sons when they needed it, and I was training them to be deadly ninjas in the future, but to actually harm them in such ways… even the thought made me sick.

Lavinia hung her head as she lowered her sleeve back down. She was sitting still, her whole body now still. Except for her hands. I could see her tea cup shaking in her grasp, the remaining liquid threatening to spill. I slowly reached over, careful not to scare her. My hand made contact with hers, and it was shaking violently by now. I used my other hand to reach over and take the cup from her grasp. She didn't resist, and I set the cup down on the tray. I grasped her hands in both of my own and held them gently.

"Lavinia, listen to me," I spoke gently and softly. "You don't have to be afraid anymore. You will never have to worry about that man ever again. Me and my sons will never let him harm you again."

Lavinia finally looked up at me. She had an amazed look on her face, and her eyes were watery. I lifted my hand up and traced it down her cheek gently. I could've sworn I saw the corner of her mouth twitch.

"I promise," I finished lowly.

This time I knew I saw her mouth twitch, and it twitched into a small grin. It was small, but it was still there. _There, that's better, _I thought to myself.

"Um, Master Splinter…?"

"Yes, child?"

She licked her lips. "…What if I see him again?" she asked me. "What if…what if he tries to hurt me? I won't be able to stop him."

My brows furrowed. I could understand her concern. A man such as this was a constant fear for this poor girl, and she wanted nothing to do with him. True, I would never let him hurt her again. But what if he did somehow find her? And what if I'm not there to help? She'll never be able to defend herself…

_Unless…_

"Maybe we can change that."

Lavinia blinked. "How?"

"Simple," I said. "I can prepare you for such dangers by training you."

"You mean…?"

"What I mean is, I want to train you in the art of ninjutsu by training you to be a kunoichi. It is a female ninja," I added when she gave me a confused look. "You would be trained just as I'm training my son."

Lavinia's mouth dropped. "You… you mean it?"

I nodded. "Yes. But I must warn you. It will be one of the hardest things you'll ever do. It will drain you physically, mentally, and emotionally. But with the proper training, you should get through it. You were certainly able to do that form extremely well. By watching you earlier, I could see you have a natural skill for learning quickly and progressively."

As I said this Lavinia continued to smile at me. She was looking much happier than before, and that, in turn, made me happy as well.

"I'm always happy to take a student who is willing to learn," I said to her. "But the question is- are you willing to do the work?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed quickly. "Yes yes, I am!"

I smiled down at her. "Very well, then. We will start your training as a kunoichi."

Lavinia seemed to just swell up with happiness when I said that. She was smiling so widely it looked as though her face might burst. It was certainly the brightest smile I had seen on her. _She is like Michelangelo, _I thought to myself. _They both look better with smiles on their faces. _I glanced over at my small side table to look at the old clock. The time said 10:35 pm, long after my sons bedtime.

"It is late, Lavinia," I said. "You must go back to sleep now."

She nodded. "Okay."

Lavinia stood up from the ground, but did not head straight for the door. She slowly walked over and stood before me. With me sitting down, I was now eye-level with her. She did not speak, and neither did I. instead I waited to see what she was doing. She stood still for a few moments. Then she reached over, put her tiny arms around me, and gave me a hug. She squeezed me a little tighter when I did. It was strange; like she was trying to put a lot of unsaid things into a simple hug. My smoothed down her hair, and I patted her head; my way of telling her that I understood.

After a moment she released me, and I lowered my arms, keeping my hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks, Master Splinter," she said in a soft voice.

I nodded as I slowly lowered my hand from her shoulder.

"Goodnight, child."

"Goodnight."

Lavinia turned, and started heading for the door. Her hand was already on the surface when I spoke.

"Lavinia…"

She turned her head to look at me. I grinned.

"Your training starts tomorrow."

Lavinia beamed.

* * *

><p><strong>There yah have it! Nia's gonna be a kunoichi! Isn't that awesome? Now, here's a question: What should her her weapon be? Now, i really want her to have two weapons. One of them IS gonna be a tessen. No question, no exception. She's gonna have one. But what should her other weapon be? PM me or tell me in the comments what her weapon be? Give me something cool to give this cool gal, k? Alright, I'll see yall later.<strong>


	4. Mutation Days and Birthdays

**Hey hey hey, my lovelies! How are you today?**

**...**

**Great! And for those of you who've had a bad day, i'm super sorry. Hopefully i can help. See, i want to go ahead and get this prologue section of the story out of the way so i can start on the real stuff. And if i can get through this part, then i can finish out other stuff without thinking about this story for a while. So, sit back and read.**

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><p>Prologue: Part 4<br>Mutation Days and Birthdays

Nia's P.O.V.

This morning I woke up to something really strange; silence. Not scary silence, but still silence. It was…weird. For the past 5 months I've been waking up to all kinds of noises; Donnie and Raph arguing, Leo watching 'Space Heroes,' and Mikey singing randomly for no reason. Not this time, though. I woke up and absolutely nothing was going on. I walked around the living room, the dojo, even looking by the boys' bedrooms. I didn't go in though. I didn't feel right going in without their permission. I knocked on their doors, but there was still nothing. I sighed. _I need some juice._

So, after that I made my way to the kitchen. I rubbed my eyes and yawned as I pulled the curtains back.

"Mikey, are you in here? Can I have some j-"

"SURPRISE!"

I yelped loudly as I jumped back several feet. I breathed heavily as I stood still for a few moments. All of the boys had just jumped out from various hiding places and had scared the heck out of me. Leo, Raph, and Donnie were all standing there with smiles on their faces.

"Guys, why?" I gasped when I started to calm down. "What was that for- Wait… Where's Mikey?"

But before they could speak there was a loud yell from above.

"Booyakasha!"

I looked up in time to see Mikey's smiling face before he landed on top of me. I fell to the ground and landed on my back with a loud _thump_, and Mikey landed on me as he wrapped his arms around me. Not exactly the best way to hug, but it was definitely creative.

"Hey Mikey," I mumbled as I hugged him back as best I could.

"Surprise, Nia!" he said as he lifted himself up so that his face was hovering over mine.

"Surprise? For what?"

"Come on! You didn't forget, did you? You're the one who told us today was your birthday!"

It was true. Today was my 9th birthday. 2 weeks ago I had asked they guys how old they all were and when their birthday was. They were all 8 years-old, and their birthday was September 29th; the same date as mine. Meaning that they were now 9 years-old as well. Though, they didn't call it a birthday. They called it a 'Mutation Day.' I had asked them what that meant, and they all said that Master Splinter could tell me. Then when I told them we shared the same day, they all went crazy, especially Mikey. He had started talking about how he wanted to do something awesome and crazy for me, but I told him I didn't want him or his brothers to fuss over me. It was still there Mutation Day, after all.

"Oh, right," I said. "My birthday."

"You did forget!" Mikey started poking my nose. "You silly, silly girl!"

I snorted. "I'm not that silly. C'mon, let me up."

Mikey rolled his eyes as he finally got off of me. Leo held his hand out to me to help me, and I took it as he pulled me up.

"Well, Happy Mutation Day, you guys," I told them.

"And Happy Birthday to you," said Leo.

"So, what's for breakfast?" I asked.

"Sensei's making us eat worms and algae again," Raph groaned. "And it's leftovers."

That was another thing I learned while staying here. Turns out the guys and Sensei didn't always get to eat human food. In fact, they were lucky if they could manage to find some normal food. Most of the time the only food they ate were worms and algae. I was a bit worried I'd have to eat that as well. But whenever the guys did have to eat that stuff, Sensei always gave me some normal white rice. If there was any salt and butter around I'd ask for some, but otherwise I was happy to have it just plain.

"Nothing special for your Mutation Day, then?" I asked.

"I guess not," said Donnie.

The next few minutes passed by rather quickly. Raph and Leo went ahead and sat in their seats at the table. Me and Donnie poured some glasses of regular milk for all of us. Mikey had already turned on the stove, put a pot on the burner, and was getting a container out of the refrigerator.

"I'll just heat this up and it'll be good," he said.

He opened the container, and I saw it was filled with what looked like green and blue goop, with tiny pink worms swimming inside it. Mikey brought it over to the pot he had placed on the stove and poured the stuff in. He turned the stove on and stood in front of it with his arms crossed.

"Oh! Your leftover rice is in the refrigerator, Nia."

"I'll get it," said Donnie as I reached for the fridge's door.

"Oh Donnie, no. You don't-"

"Oh, just let me," he insisted. "It's still your birthday, let me do something for you."

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He smiled at me as he opened the fridge's door and grabbed the container that had my leftover rice in it. While he went to microwave it I grabbed the glasses of milk and set them all on the table.

"Thanks," said Leo.

"Your welcome."

After that I took a seat across from Leo.

"Hey, Mikey," Leo started. "What was that thing you said when you tackled Nia?"

"Oh, that was my new catchphrase," said Mikey.

"Catchphrase?" Raph asked.

"Yeah. See, people always say "surprise," when surprising someone, right? Well, I wanted to do something new. So, I spent all night coming up with something cool and different to say for when we saw Nia. I can up with "booyakasha." It's so cool I decided to make it my catchphrase."

I rolled my eyes, smiling. "Cool catchphrase, Mike."

"Don't encourage him," whispered Raph. "You'll make it worse."

I giggled softly, and Raph smiled at me. I smiled back. A few seconds later he got out of his seat and walked around the table. I raised my brow as I watched him walk over to me. He paused, then jumped into the seat that Donnie usually sat in.

"Hey Donnie! Is it cool if I sit here?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

"Cool."

Raph folded his arms over the table and looked at me, a small grin on his face. I grinned back, and I folded my arms on the table as well. Raph glanced down at my arms, then at my face. Then he lifted one of his hands and rested his chin on it. I raised my brow again. Feeling curious, I lifted my hand and put my chin in it too. Raph drummed his fingers against his chin, and after a few seconds I did as well. He grinned a little more as he put his other hand under his chin. I giggled slightly as I did the same. This copycat game went on for a few seconds before Raph raised his brow, a small smirk growing on his face. Then he turned in his chair to face me completely, and he covered his face with his hands. I did the same, but I kept my fingers apart and my eye cracked open. I wasn't sure what he was up to, but I had a feeling it was…well, something.

Suddenly, his hands came off and he yelled.

"Boo!"

I gasped and nearly fell out of my seat as I leaned back. After a few seconds silence to catch my breath I smiled at him, and started laughing. He laughed too.

"Gotcha!"

"No fair! You tricked me!"

"Duh!"

I reached over and nudged his shoulder with my hand. He chuckled as he swatted it away.

"Are you guys done?" Leo asked dully.

"Shut up!" Raph snapped.

"Having fun, children?"

We all turned to see Master Splinter standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Morning, Sensei," I said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Lavinia. Good morning, my sons."

"Morning, Sensei," they all said.

Sensei walked over to his usual seat at the end of the table and sat down. At that moment Donnie came up to me with a small bowl of rice in his hands.

"Here you go, Nia."

"Thanks, Donnie."

Donnie smiled at me before walking over to sit next to Leo. At that moment Mikey came up with bowls of algae in his arms.

"Algae for everyone!" he said cheerfully.

He set the slightly steaming bowls of algae on the table in front of everyone else. Leo looked down at his bowl with an eyebrow slightly raised. Donnie looked at his bowl with a look of disgust. Raph simply glared at his bowl.

"You're lucky you don't have to eat this stuff," he muttered.

"Not my fault I can't eat it," I muttered back.

I picked up my fork and started to eat my rice, and the boys and Master Splinter started to eat their algae. All of them reacted differently; Splinter acted calm and normal, just like he usually did. Leo acted normal too, but I could've sworn I saw his eyes squint in discomfort. Donnie, however, made a disgusted noise every time he took a bite of his. Raph stabbed his food and made an angry noise every time he took a bite. Mikey was the only one who didn't act like he was eating complete garbage, and ate his without complaint. I felt bad for the guys to have to eat something they didn't like, but I just sat quietly and ate my rice.

"All done!" Mikey said after he had finished his bowl. "Anybody else want some more?"

"Nah."

"I'm good."

"No thanks."

I looked around at everyone. All the others had already finished their meal, and I still had a few more bites left. Which was surprising, seeing as how I had a more tasty plate.

"Are you all finished with your breakfast?" Master Splinter asked.

"Yeah, Sensei," said Leo.

"Good," Splinter turned his head to me. "Lavinia, wasn't there something you wanted to do this morning for the boys?"

"Hm…? Oh, yeah!"

I ate the last few bites of my rice before jumping out of my seat.

"Nia, where are you going?"

But I ignored Mikey and ran out of the kitchen. I ran over the couch and slide down in front of it. I reached my hand underneath the cushion and reached around for a moment until I felt the fabric of cotton. I smiled as I grabbed the fabric and yanked it out, and a small bag appeared. I opened the bag and looked inside, and was happy to see everything I needed was still there. What was there exactly? Simple; there were four small gifts I had for all of the guys. See, Master Splinter has been taking me on walks throughout the sewers so that I won't get lost in them. During some of those times I managed to find a few small items that I knew the guys would love. I've never had a birthday party, and I've never been to one, but I knew that people got gifts for their birthday. And they guys' Mutation Day was technically the same thing, right? So, I decided to used the items I found as their Mutation Day gifts. I had asked Sensei to keep it a secret, since I wanted it to be a surprise, and he agreed. I had planned on giving the gifts after we all finished our breakfast, and that's what I was going to do. _This is gonna be great!_

I stood up from in front of the couch and made a run for the kitchen. I got there so quickly that it felt like it was less than a second before I was standing in the room again. The guys were all there, staring at me in confusion.

"What's in the bag?" Raph asked.

I grinned slightly as I looked over at Master Splinter. He grinned as well, and then he stood up from his chair and walked over to stand beside me. He placed a hand on my shoulder as he looked at the boys.

"Lavinia has something for you, my sons," he said. "Special gifts for your Mutation Day."

The guys made sounds of surprise and glee, leaping from their chairs and walking over to me. I smiled at them all as I opened my bag. _I hope they'll like these…_

"Who wants to go first?"

"Me!" Mikey jeered.

He pushed past his brothers and jumped up in front of me. I smiled as I reached inside the bag.

"Wait!" Mikey covered his eyes with his large hands. "Okay, now!"

I giggled at him. I then moved my hand around until I found what I was looking for. I pulled out the object and looked up at Mikey.

"Okay Mikey, open up."

Mikey opened his eyes at the same time I opened my hands, and his jaw dropped.

"A toy car!"

It was, indeed, a new toy car. It was a small, hand-sized jeep, and it was bright yellow. It had a small scratch on the left side, but other than that it looked fine. I had found it in a tunnel entrance the first time Sensei brought me out to the sewers. I had seen it and instantly thought of Mikey, and how he had told me he really wanted another toy car.

I held the small toy out to Mikey, telling him to take it. Mikey took the car from my hands and looked at me with a gleeful smile.

"Nia, you're awesome!"

Mikey wrapped his arms around me and gave another one of his rib-crushing hugs. I giggled as I hugged him back.

"Thanks, Mikey."

Mikey beamed at me before stepping to the side, gazing down at his new toy. I reached back inside the bag and grabbed the next item.

"Donnie…?"

Donnie blinked, looking surprised. Then he walked over to stand in front of me, his arms held behind him. I pulled out his gift, and he gasped. It was a small toy dinosaur. What was more, it also happened to be a long-necked dinosaur; Donnie's favorite. It's condition wasn't as good as the car was though. It had several scratches over it's body, but not so bad that someone could hate it. Or, at least, that's what I hoped. Donnie slowly reached for the toy and took it from my hands.

"I know it's kind of scratched up," I said. "But I thought you would like it…"

Donnie stared at the toy creature in his hands, not saying anything for a moment. Then he looked up at me, and he had a bright smile on his face, exposing the small gap in his teeth.

"I love it."

Feeling a little relieved, I smiled. "Your welcome."

Donnie smiled more, holding the toy Dino close to his chest. I reached in the bag for a third time.

"Oh, Leo…" I sang sweetly.

Leo chuckled as he walked forward. I grinned as I grabbed his gift from inside the bag.

"I really think you're gonna love this."

I slowly pulled the object out, and Leo gasped, his eyes wide. It was a comic book. But not just any comic book; it was the limited first edition of 'Space Heroes.' Not only that, it was still wrapped in plastic. _Good thing, too. That way it's not dirty._

"'Space Heroes' comic!" Leo yelped, grabbing the comic in his hands. "And it's still in the plastic? How did you…?"

"Found it in the sewers a while back," I told him. "Someone must've dumped it down here without even reading it."

"Why would someone do something like that?"

"'Cause it's a stupid show," mumbled Raph.

Leo glared at his brother, but otherwise ignored him. He looked back at me with a wide smile on his face.

"Thank you so much, Nia."

"You're welcome, Leo."

Leo smiled more as he leaned forward and gave me a one-armed hug. I hugged him back for a moment before letting him go. I looked over at Raph, and I saw he had a smug look on his face, and his arms were crossed.

"Aw, I get one, too?" he asked jokingly.

I giggled, and nodded. I opened the bag and reached inside, but this time, I hesitated. It had been hard to find something good for Raph. Like, really hard. He never acted like he wanted or needed anything. It was easy for the others because they practically screamed what they wanted. But, for Raph, I almost had no clue. I still remember the last time I went down the sewers with Sensei, and I had talked to him about it.

"_What if I can't find anything for him, Sensei? What if he'll hate me for it?"_

"_Lavinia, child, Raphael could never hate someone as kind as you. Do not worry, though. You will know the perfect gift when you see it."_

Ironically, I had just managed to find what I thought was the perfect just a few moments after that. I found the item, looked at it, and for some reason I thought of Raph. It didn't seem like something he needed, but something I'd like to give him.

"Hold your hand," I told him.

Raph shrugged and held his hand out to me. I retracted my hand, which was holding the object inside. I reached my hand forward, turned it, and dropped the item into Raph's hand. There was a small glimmer before he closed his hand on the thing. Raph brought his hand closer to him and uncurled his fingers. Inside his palm was a round, hand-sized locket without its chain. It was a soft, gold color, and it had a small star carved on the front.

"I just found that the other day in one of the pipes," I told him. "I couldn't find the chain, though. There's something written inside, too."

Raph didn't say anything for a moment. He messed with the locket and it popped open. In one side was a small sheet of glass to put a picture behind, and the other was plain, except for a small quote carved into the metal. Raph brought it close to his face and he squinted his eyes to read the tiny inscription. After a second he blinked, and his eyes went a little wide.

"What's it say?" Mikey asked as he looked over Raph's shoulder.

"Back off!" Raph snapped, shoving Mikey off of him.

"Raphael," Sensei said warningly.

"Yeah yeah, I know. Sorry Mikey."

"It's cool."

Raph turned away from his brother and looked at me. He glanced down at the locket in his hands as he closed it up.

"Do you…like it?" I asked nervously.

Raph looked up at me, and for a split second I thought he was going to laugh at me. Instead, his face broke into a grin, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I do," he said. "Thanks a lot, Nia."

I blinked, then smiled brightly at him.

"Well… your welcome."

"What now, Sensei?" Donnie asked Splinter.

Before he could do more than open his mouth Mikey's hand shot up.

"Oh, oh! Tell Nia the story, Sensei!" he cried. "The one when we were mutated!"

"Have I not told her that story yet?" he asked.

"No, Sensei," I replied.

He stroked his chin for a moment, thinking it over. He looked down at me.

"Would you like to hear the story, Lavinia?" he asked.

I smiled and nodded. "Yes, please."

He nodded. "Very well."

"Yay!"

Mikey grabbed my wrist and drug me over to sit next to him at the table. Raph sat on the other side of me, and Leo and Donnie sat on the other side. Sensei walked back to his seat on the end and sat down in his chair. He looked at us all before starting to speak.

"Many years ago, when I was still human, I had gone to the pet store to by some baby turtles…"

* * *

><p>"C'mon, Nia! Get it!"<p>

"I'm trying!"

Today was a fun day, I'd just like to say. After Sensei told the story of how him and the guys were mutated, he had told us that there would be no training today. We were free to roam and play as we pleased. Like now, for instance. I was currently playing a videogame with Mikey, and Raph was watching while sitting next to me. I don't remember what the game was called, but I did know that I was in the middle of a boss fight with this giant alien creature. Mikey's player had already been killed so I was on my own, and I was about to loose.

"Use your laser gun!" Mikey shrieked.

"But I'm out of ammo!"

"Use the grenade!" said Raph.

I pressed the button on the controller that activated the grenade, and my guy on the screen threw it at the alien boss. It hit the thing right on it's giant blue head as it gave a loud screech. Then the whole thing blew up, and the words "PLAYER 2 WINS" came up in bright red caps. Mikey jumped to his feet and did an air-guitar move while making loud guitar noises. Raph yelled and raised his hand up for a high-three. I separated my fingers so that my pointer and middle finger were together, and my ring and pinky finger were together. I then brought my hand to Raph's and gave him a high-three.

"Sweet!" he said.

I nodded. "I know, right?"

"Dudette, you are awesome!" Mikey jeered, putting an arm around me. "Too bad you didn't beat my high score."

"You still died, dummy," said Raph.

"Yeah, but I still got the best score in the game."

"Oh yeah?" Raph smirked. "I bet Nia could beat you."

"Huh?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. I'm pretty good at this already."

"Do you challenge me?" Mikey asked, sounding horrified, yet playful.

I giggled. "Maybe I am."

Before Mikey could open his mouth Leo, Donnie, and Sensei all walked in at that moment. Master Splinter walked up behind us, evidently observing the area.

"And what are you three up to?" he asked.

"We were just playing video games, Sensei," said Mikey. "And Nia's awesome at it!"

"Awesome enough to beat your score," I said, smirking. Now I was challenging him.

"Pfft! Please! Nobody can beat the video game master!"

I giggled as I glanced up at Master Splinter, who I happen see roll his eyes, a small grin on his face. He then leaned over and whispered something to Leo. Leo nodded, then went over to Raph and whispered in his ear, too.

"What's going on?" I whispered to Mikey.

"Dunno. I'll find out," he hopped over the couch and walked over to Donnie. "Dude, what's-"

Donnie covered Mikey's mouth and then started whispering into his ear. Mikey's eyes went slightly wide as Donnie moved his hand away from his brother's mouth.

"Oh, yeah…" Mikey muttered, suddenly understanding.

"What?" I asked, looking at everyone. "What is it?"

Nobody said anything, but all the boys had smiles on their faces. Sensei walked up to me and held out his hand.

"Come, Lavinia," he said. "My sons and I have something to show you."

"Oh, okay."

I reached up and grasped Sensei's hand. He helped me to my feet and led me out of the living room, the boys following close behind us. Master Splinter led me off to the area where the boys' bedrooms were and led me past them to where a fifth room sat at the end of the hall. Master Splinter had told me to stay out of that room, that it was full of junk that didn't need to be messed with. If that was true, why was I being led straight to it? Master Splinter didn't stop walking until we were directly in front of the door.

"Close your eyes, Lavinia," he told me.

"Okay."

I lowered my head slightly and covered my eyes with my hands. There was a loud creaking sound, like the door was being opened. I heard several pairs of feet moving, and I could feel the guys were standing all around me. I felt a hand on my back, and I knew it was Splinter.

"Alright, child. Open your eyes."

I lifted my head up, uncovered my eyes, and opened them.

"Surprise!" the boys shouted.

I stared. And I stared. And I stared a little more. I blinked a few times too, just to make sure my vision was cleared. I even rubbed my eyes just to be safe. But when I lowered my hands the sight before me was still the same. But…I didn't know what to make of it. It's was so confusing. This room should be full of junk; it should be messy. It shouldn't look like a… like a bedroom. But, it did. I took a few steps inside, and it still looked like a bedroom. On one side of the room there was a single-person bed with a dark purple comforter and a yellow pillow on one end. Next to it was a small side table that had a small, battered old lamp whose light was surprisingly still working. On the other side of the room was a small, but decent dresser that could hold several sets of cloths, and above it hanging on the wall was a round, slightly dusty mirror. There was a small brush on the dressers' surface, but other than that, nothing.

I blinked several more times, unsure of what I was looking at. I glanced back over at the bed, and saw something I didn't see before. There were four object laying in front of the pillow- two of them were items I knew very well; Mikey's yellow truck, and Donnie's dinosaur book. The other two items were what looked like cards; one was colored solid blue with a crayon and had the Hamato Clan symbol drawn in red(I found out what that was shortly after my training started), and the other was colored yellow with a star drawn in green. I had a feeling the one with the symbol was from Leo, and the one with the star was from Raph.

I had no idea what this was about, what this was for, or what was going on. And I was a little nervous to find out. I gulped, turned my head away from the objects on my bed and looked up at Master Splinter.

"What…is this?" I breathed.

"This," Sensei gestured all around. "Is your new bedroom, child. My sons and I felt that it was time for you to have your own room, especially if you're going to be staying with us for a while."

I looked at the guys, and saw they had the biggest smiles on their faces.

"I… I don't know what to say…"

"It is alright, child," said Splinter. "Though, this is not all we have for you."

I stared at him, eyebrows raised. They had just given me a room, what more could they possibly have? Sensei took a few steps towards me before kneeling down on one of his knees so he was eye-level with me. He lifted his hand up and brushed my bangs away from my face, then placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Lavinia, my sons and I have something we'd like to ask you."

I gulped. "O-okay…"

Splinter looked back at the boys, who were all standing by his side, excited looks on all their faces. Splinter smiled at them before looking back at me.

"We have given this some thought, and talked it over many times, and now we are ready to ask you," he took my hand in his free one, squeezing it gently. "Lavinia… would you like be a part of this family?"

I probably would've fallen if Sensei wasn't holding my hand. _Did he… Did he just say…?_ I took several long, staggered breaths, trying to keep myself calm. I looked over at the guys, and they were practically beaming by now. Mikey looked like he was about to burst with excitement as he hopped on his feet slightly. I gulped once more as I looked up at Splinter. He really meant it. He really wanted me to be a part of his family. They all did. That fact alone was enough to make me cry with happiness. I would've said yes on the spot, if it wasn't for one thing…

"Honestly… I kinda thought I already was…"

Sensei blinked, and a wide smile appeared on his face. All nervousness gone, replaced with undying happiness, I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around him and a huge hug. Splinter hugged me back, patting my head softly.

"Booyakasha!"

I barley had enough time to back away from Sensei before Mikey jumped on me, tackling me to the ground in a huge hug. I laughed happily as I hugged him back, and he let me sit up while keeping an arm around me.

"Welcome to the family, dudette!" he jeered.

"I'm so glad you're staying," Donnie said as he kneeled in front of me.

"Why would I ever leave you guys?"

Donnie smiled as he opened his arms, and I gave him a small, but meaningful hug. He then helped me to my feet as Leo walked up to me.

"I was scared you were gonna say no," he said quietly.

"Oh, come on," I reached up and pinched his cheek. "I can't say no to that face."

He chuckled, his green cheeks going slightly pink, and he wrapped his arms around me at the same time I did to him. We hugged for a few seconds before separating at last. _One turtle left…_ I looked over in front of me, and I saw Raph. He was standing there, looking at the ground, his arms folded in front of him.

"Raph…?" I asked, unsurely.

For a moment, it looked like he wasn't going to do anything. Then he slowly took several slow steps forward, then suddenly halted in mid step. He scratched his arm for a moment, hesitating. Then he took about three really quick steps before he was in front of me. When he was, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and hugged me tightly. It was the first hug he had given me since I first arrived here.

"Happy Birthday, Nia," he whispered.

I paused, taking a moment for the smile to grow on my face. Then I slowly wrapped my arms around his shell.

"Thanks, Raph."

* * *

><p><strong>Awww! *sniff, sniff* Did that get to you like it got to me?<strong>

**...**

**No? ...Well, screw you then. Anyways, how did you like this chapter? Like it? Love it? Good? Bad? I would really like to know, so please leave a review for me. i really appreciated when you give me your opinions on my stories, so please leave some for me. KK, i'll c yall later.**


	5. The Five Hamato Children

**Hey guys! Guess what? Yesterday was my 18TH BIRTHDAY!**

***people clap and cheer***

**Yes, yes! I know! I'm a legal adult now! Now, i wanted to post this yesterday as a sort of B-Day gift to myself, but i got tired and passed out, so...yeah. So instead, i posted this on Nov. 29th, the day after my birthday.**

**Oh! Guess what i got! My lovely, amazing boyfriend got me "How To Train Your Dragon 2" on DVD! AHHH! LOVE YOU BABY! Which means that i'll finally be able to do a sequel on "Hicca and Her Dragon!"**

**But, until then, i have this. The final prologue chapter of this story. Now, enjoy...**

* * *

><p>Prologue: Part 5<br>The Five Hamato Children

(1 year and a half later)

This was it. Today was the day. Me and my brothers were going to be presented with our official ninja masks, and our weapons. They boys would no longer wear the masks that covered their heads like hats. I didn't know what I was going to get. Leo thought that I was going to get a mask like they were today instead of getting a mask like they've always had. I hope so. I was also excited about what my weapon would be. Sensei had been training us for over a month with many different weapon, training us to see which weapon would "choose" us, as he had said. A few I felt okay about, others I felt confident I'd succeed with. All I knew was that I was excited to find out which one I'd have.

Me and the boys were kneeling down on the mat, waiting for Sensei to come out of his room and present us with our masks and weapons. We sat there for what felt like hours before he finally emerged from his room. I straightened up a little when he approached, but otherwise, stayed still. Sensei walked until he stood in front of us, his arms held behind him. By his feet was a small wooden box on his left, and a folded up sheet on his right.

"You are all here because you all have advanced to the next level of your training. You all have come one step closer to becoming true warriors. Today, you all have progressed. Today, you become ninjas."

I heard Mikey give a tiny squeal of happiness from next to me, and I had to resist the urge to laugh. I bit on my lip as I looked up at Sensei. He bent down so that he was now kneeling in front of us. He reached over to the box and opened it. I saw several colors inside, no doubt several masks. Sensei reached in, and grabbed a blue one.

"Leonardo…"

Leo quickly got to his feet and walked towards Sensei, who held the mask out to him.

"The blue mask; the color of trust, loyalty, wisdom, and confidence. It symbolizes one's integrity. May you wear it and represent it well."

Splinter handed the mask to Leo, who took it in his shaking hands. Leo slowly lifted the mask to his face and put it on, tying it tightly. His arms fell and he lifted his face back up. Maybe it was just the mask, but the look on his face seemed different; he looked more mature. Splinter then reached under the sheet with both of his hands, and retrieved two large katanas.

"The katana; it is the weapon of a leader, one who will guide his warriors to victory. This is the weapon that has chosen you, my son."

Leo stared in disbelief that Sensei had presented him with such a weapon. Lifting trembling hands, Leo took the two swords from Splinter. He smoothed his fingers over the blade, careful not to cut himself. Then he looked up at Splinter and bowed to him.

"Thank you, Sensei."

Leo turned and slowly walked back to his spot next to Raph. Sensei reached back inside the box and grabbed a red mask.

"Raphael…"

Raph stood up and walked over to Splinter, and there was more confidence in his step than Leo's. Sensei held the mask out to him.

"The red mask; the color of strength, determination, willpower, and passion. It symbolizes one's courage. May you wear it and represent it well."

Raph took the mask from Splinter's hand and quickly tied it on his face. As his hands fell a small smirk grew on his still boyish face. Unlike Leo, Raph had a more smug expression on his face. Sensei reached into the sheet and retrieved two large sais.

"The sai; it is the weapon of a defender, one who will fight for others as well as himself. This is the weapon that has chosen you, my son."

Raph blinked at the weapon he was given. He reached up with confident hands and took the weapons from Sensei's hands. He looked down at them, then bowed slightly to Splinter.

"Thank you, Sensei."

Keeping the small smirk on his face, Raph turned and went back to his spot between Leo and Donnie. I could've sworn I saw him glace over at me, but I kept my face forward as Sensei reached into the box and pulled out a purple mask.

"Donatello…"

Donnie quickly got to his feet and walked towards Splinter, slightly tripping on his feet as he did. I could see his dark green cheeks go slightly pink, but he kept a straight face as Sensei held the mask out to him.

"The purple mask; the color of dignity, independence, creativity, and ambition. It symbolizes one's overall wisdom. May you wear it and represent it well."

I heard Donnie give the slightest gulp as he timidly took the mask from Splinter. He grinned down at his mask before he put it on. This time, he had a smart, confident look on his face. Sensei reached into the sheet with his hand, and brought out a large Bo staff.

"The Bo staff; It is the weapon of a peacekeeper, but one who is willing to fight only for what is right. This is the weapon that has chosen you, my son."

Donnie's eyes went wide, a small smile growing on his face as he took the weapon. He rubbed his hand along the wood, as though admiring it. Then he held it at his side and bowed to Splinter.

"Thank you, Sensei."

Donnie turned, and he had a much happier smile on his face as he sat back down. Sensei reached back into the box and picked up an orange mask.

"Michelangelo…"

"Yeah!"

Mikey jumped up to his feet and raised his fists in the air, apparently unable to stop himself. We all stared at him, but I was the only one who giggled at his silliness. Sensei didn't respond, though I did see a small smile appear on his face. Mikey cleared his throat and them jumped over in front of Splinter, who handed Mikey the mask.

"The orange mask; the color of enthusiasm, fascination, attraction, and encouragement. It symbolizes one's pure, overall happiness. May you wear it and represent it well."

Mikey gave another tiny squeak and grabbed the mask from Sensei's hands. He hummed slightly as he tied it on quickly around his head. He now had a more gleeful, boyish look on his face. Splinter reached inside the sheet, but his time he paused. It almost looked like he was hesitating. Then he pulled out two pairs of nunchucks.

"The nunchuck; it is the weapon of a wild warrior, one who is willing to risk it all for the safety of others. This is the weapon that has chosen you, my son."

Mikey made a loud "ooh-ing" sound as he gazed at his new weapon. He snatched them from Splinter's hands and waved them around a bit. He opened his mouth, as though about to say his catchphrase, but Splinter held his hand up.

"Please save your excited outbursts for later, my son."

Mikey placed both of his hands over his mouth, no doubt to keep his outburst from happening. He turned and jumped back into his seat next to me, his hands still over his mouth. I covered my mouth slightly as I let out a tiny giggle. I turned my head just as Sensei retrieved his hand out of the box, but his hand was closed.

"Lavinia…"

I bit down on my bottom lip. _It's okay, Nia. Just breath… _I slowly got to my feet and walked over to stand in front of Sensei. I was taking slow, deep breaths to keep myself calm, and it was working mostly.

"This is mask I've had for a long time," said Splinter. "And I thought I would never find anyone worthy of wearing it. Until now…"

Sensei reached his free hand to the one that was closed, and then pulled it back as he exposed the mask that was inside. I blinked in surprise. The mask was the brightest, purest white I had ever seen in my life. It looked so beautiful to me I nearly sighed at the sight.

"The white mask; the color of light, innocence, safety, and purity. It is a symbol of one's goodness. May you wear it and represent it well.

I stared in amazement at the mask I was being given. _He really thought he'd never give it to anyone? …And he wants me to have it…? _I gulped down the lump that was in my throat, and slowly reached up and took the mask in my hands. I gazed down at the soft fabric in my hands, and slowly lifted it up to my face. The cloth was soft against my skin, and I tied it up without catching it in my hair. I lowered my hands to my sides and looked up at Splinter. He gave me a small smile. The he reached under the sheet with both hands and they came back out with a kama in each hand.

"The kama; it is the weapon of a protector, one who always puts others needs before her own, even in her darkest moments. This is the weapon that has chosen you… my daughter."

I inhaled slowly as I glanced down at the weapon in Sensei's hands. Me? A protector? Is that possible? But as I looked up at Master Splinter, and saw the look in his eyes, I knew that he knew what he was doing. I smiled slightly as I reached up for my new weapons. I grabbed the wooden handles and lifted them up to my face. I lowered my arms down and bowed to Splinter.

"Thank you, Sensei."

"Yes," he said. "The kama will be you _secondary_ weapon."

I blinked and looked up at him, slightly confused. "Secondary, Sensei?"

Splinter didn't answer me. Instead he turned his head to look at the guys.

"My sons, I must speak with Lavinia alone, please."

The boys all looked at each other, clearly confused. Then Leo stood up from his spot.

"We'll just go outside," he looked down at the others. "Guys, come on."

Leo turned and started to head to the exit. Slowly, one by one, the others stood up and followed him out. I stood there and watched them all leave the room. I slowly turned my head back to Splinter.

"Is…something wrong, Sensei?" I asked.

"Not at all," he stood up on his feet. "In fact, this is a very good thing."

"What is?"

Splinter smiled at me. "Lavinia, it seems you have a particular gift. Not only do your skills improve rather quickly, you have the potential to master more than one weapon."

"I thought ninjas could use any weapon, Sensei."

"Any ninja can learn to use any weapon, but few can learn to fully master more than one weapon. It is a gift I've had for a long time, and it seems you have it as well."

I bit my lip as I thought about what he said. It made sense. The guys had had two whole years of training before I had even met them, and now I was graduating at the same level as them. It was obvious I had a natural skill for learning quickly.

"You said this was my secondary weapon," I said, lifting my kama up slightly. "So…what's my primary weapon?"

Sensei grinned down at me. "Wait here."

He turned around and headed towards his room. I stared at him until his bedroom door was shut. _What is he up to? _I sighed slightly as I set my kamas down on the floor and looked around the room, not really having anything else to do. This place was oddly quiet without the guys in here training. My eyes continued to glance around the whole area until they landed on the small bookshelf that sat in the room, and then on the small picture that sat on the top shelf. Unconsciously, my feet moved forward towards the shelf until I stood directly in front of the picture frame. It was a simple photo; it was a black and white image of a tall man and a beautiful woman holding a small baby in her arms. While the couple both had straight faces, the baby appeared to be smiling. It was difficult to tell, but for some reason I felt that the baby was probably a girl. But I wouldn't know. I had been looking at his photo since my very first time in the dojo, and to this day I didn't know who was in the picture. I felt that Splinter would know, but I felt like I'd be invading his privacy by asking him. Bottom line; I was too nervous to ask.

"Lovely photo, isn't it?"

I gasped and whipped around. Once again, Master Splinter had managed to somehow sneak up on me. He did this very often, Raph even made a comment that he needed a bell or something once. Splinter looked down at me, a calm look on his face. I took a deep breath and relaxed.

"Yes, it is," I bit my lip. "Um…Sensei?"

"Yes?"

I sighed. "I've been looking at his picture for over a year, and I… well…"

"You wish to know who is in the photo."

I gulped. "Yeah…"

Sensei nodded. Then he walked around me and reached up, grabbing the photo in the hand that wasn't behind his back. He kept his eyes down at it as he turned to face me, then glanced up at me.

"Lavinia, you never have to be afraid to ask me something. You know that."

I nodded. "Hai, Sensei," I shuffled my feet. "So…who are they?"

Sensei smiled slightly as he lowered the picture enough for me to see it.

"It is my family."

I blinked. "Your… family?"

He nodded. "Yes. That is me, when I was still human. That his my wife, Tang Shen, and my baby daughter, Miwa."

"You were married?"

"Yes, a long time ago. I good friend of mine had introduced me to her years ago. Miwa was born a year after we were married."

I glanced down at the picture, at the tiny, smiling baby Miwa.

"What… happened to them?" I asked timidly, scared to ask.

Sensei took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. He seemed to hesitate from saying anything. He glanced up at me, and he had a sad, pitying look on his face.

"They… were taken from me," he said lowly. "Taken by a man who I thought was my brother."

I hunched over, feeling ashamed to have asked. "I'm sorry…"

"It is fine. I've made peace with it now."

I gave a small nod, suddenly feeling nervous for bringing such a subject up in the first place. I scratched my arm out of nervousness, and glanced back down at the picture. Though Splinter and his wife had straight faces, I could tell that they were no doubt happy at the time.

"…They were beautiful," I said quietly.

"Indeed," Splinter looked up at me, and I thought I saw the corner of his mouth twitch. "You know, Miwa would be about your age now."

I looked up. "Really?"

"Yes. She would only be a year older than you and your brothers," a kind smile suddenly stretched across his face. "I would like to think she would've grown to be as talented, kind, and wonderful as you are… my daughter."

I blinked, and I felt a smile appear on my face as well. Sensei's smile widened slightly as he gently set the photo back on the shelf.

"Which is why I have no shame in giving you this…"

He finally brought his other hand from behind his back, revealing what looked like a solid black club-like object. I tilted my head slightly as I stared at the thing, wondering what it was.

"This is something I've had for a long time," said Master Splinter. "I had it specially made so that I could pass it on to my daughter, Miwa. But I now give this to you, my child."

In one swift movement, Sensei used one hand to apparently open the object, which turned out to be some sort of fan. I glanced at it for a few seconds before I realized it was a tessen; an iron war fan. I had done some research on most ninja weapons some time after Sensei started training me, and one of the first things I saw was the tessen. I admired most of the other weapons, but the tessen was my personal favorite. The beauty and the creativity of it, the power that it contained, it was all together a beautiful weapon. But the one Sensei was showing me… I had never seen a tessen like it. It was solid black, and the blade was so smooth that it looked like it might cut me if I tried to touch it. It had pretty white flowers painted on each side of the fan, but the center caught my attention the most. It was the Hamato Clan symbol, and it was cut into the iron like it was a cutout. This thing was, altogether, downright stunning!

"Sensei…" I breathed. "It's…beautiful…"

He nodded. "Indeed. And also…"

He suddenly flung his arm out, tossing the tessen into the air. I whipped around and watched as it spun away from us, around the tree, and then headed back to us. I gasped, reacted instantly, and lifted my hand up as it finally met us. I squinted my eyes, prepared for the blade to slice my hand. But it didn't. I opened my eyes, and I was surprised to see that I had caught it and closed it in my hand.

"…very powerful," Splinter finished.

"Wow…"

I blinked several times as I lowered my hand, gazing at the tessen. I spread my fingers out and it opened up smoothly. I smiled, surprised and happy that I had been given such a thing. And yet, I felt the slightest pinch of guilt in my gut. Splinter, as usual, seemed to have noticed, because from the corner of my eye I saw him look down at me with concern.

"What is wrong, my daughter?"

I bit my lip as I turned to face him fully. I could tell that I would love this weapon to death, but I didn't know if I would feel right about using it. _He made it specifically for his _real_ daughter. What right do I have to use it, or even hold it?_

"I just… I just don't think I have the right to have this," I said quietly. "You made it for Miwa… do you really feel that I have any right to use it?"

Sensei sighed deeply, a calming look on his face. He took a few steps towards me and placed an arm on my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Lavinia… the loss of a loved one is a pain like no other," he told me. "Someone cannot simply let it go, not even me. But I do learn to live with it, and each day that passes is a day that I grow stronger. I've come to terms with the fact that they have passed on; they are at peace, and I should be as well. I have no shame giving this to you. I like to think of this as a way of me officially letting go of Miwa," he gently brushed my bangs behind my ear. "And I feel so blessed to have you as my daughter now, and I would not have it any other way."

I stared up at him, feeling breathless. Did he really mean that? Did he really think of me as a daughter just like he thought of Miwa? How could I be that special to him? But one look into this man's eyes told me that I didn't need to ask him these questions. All the answers were in the loving look he was giving me, and the gentle hand that was smoothing against my cheek. I smiled up at him, feeling much happier than I thought I would be today. I bowed my head respectively.

"Thank you, Sensei."

* * *

><p>"<em>Come here, you!"<em>

"_Daddy, no!"_

"_Don't talk back to me, you freaking brat!"_

_A large, pale hand grabbed my wrist, squeezing it painfully. I pulled away, slapping his arm, but he only squeezed harder. The pressure on my thin wrists increased, and I whimpered in pain. Another hand went to the back of my head and gripped at my hair, pulling it tightly. I fell down to my knees, causing the pressure on my hair and wrist to grow worse. The pain was unbearable; it was spreading throughout my entire body, making me feel like I was on fire. I squinted my eyes, and I was surrounded by something green and glowing. I was completely covered in it, and I felt like I was burning to death._

"_You're nothing but a pathetic brat!" daddy's voice shouted at me. "A worthless, little freak who ain't worth shi-"_

"_NO…!"_

I gasped as my eyes snapped opened. I quickly sat up, a rushing feeling forcing me up from my mattress. Panting and gasping, my chest rose and fell rapidly, adrenaline rushing through my very limbs. I gulped the huge lump in my throat, trying to calm myself. I desperately tried to slowly my breaths, gripping at my bed sheets with all my might as I tried doing what Splinter told me to do the last time something like this happened. _Just hold your breath, then slowly breath in… _I did as I thought, holding my breath for a moment before slowly breathing in. _That's it. Breath in… breath out… _I told myself. _You're okay… you're okay… it was just a nightmare… again._

Suddenly the door burst open, and I gasped as I whipped my head up. I could see two figure standing in my doorway, but I couldn't tell who it was at first.

"Nia, what's wrong?"

"Dudette, are you okay?"

_Raph… Mikey… _I reached over to the side table for the small lamp and turned the switch, illuminating the room in a dim light. It was, indeed, Raph and Mikey. They didn't have their masks on anymore. _Aw man, I woke them up, didn't I...?_They were standing in the doorway, looking at me with concern. I gulped, licking my lips as I nodded.

"I'm fine, guys…" I paused. "…No, no I'm not."

"Did you have a bad dream?" Mikey asked timidly.

I gulped, and nodded. At once, both turtles walked over to me; Raph stood up in front of me, and Mikey sat next to me on the bed. Raph kneeled in front of me as Mikey put a hand on my back.

"Do you wanna talking about?" Raph asked.

"Yeah, don't be afraid to speak," said Mikey encouragingly. "We're right here for you."

"Guys, what's going on?"

I looked up and saw Leo and Donnie standing just inside the room, and like the other two, they didn't have their masks on either. I felt slightly relieved, knowing that I hadn't woken anybody up.

"Nia had a nightmare," said Mikey as he rubbed my back.

"Are you okay?" Donnie asked worriedly.

I shrugged my shoulders lazily, not sure how to respond. Leo took a few steps forward.

"What happened?" he asked.

I gulped. I never liked talking about my old father(for lack of a better word), and now I was having nightmares about him again. The last time I had nightmares about him was a few weeks before my 10th birthday and they guys Mutation Day.

"It was about… my old dad…"

I glanced down and I saw Raph clench his hands into fists. The boys might not know the specifics about how badly I was treated, but they knew that he was a really bad towards me.

"Another one?" Donnie asked. "I thought you said those ones stopped."

"I thought so, too," I said. "But… I don't know… they just happen, I guess."

"Why?" Mikey asked. "How bad was he?"

I froze, biting down on my bottom lip, a constant bad habit of mine. I wasn't quite sure what to do now. The only person in this lair that I've ever talked to about my old father was Master Splinter, and that was because I felt I could trust him with anything. _But, I trust the boys, don't I…? _Well, that was the question; did I trust the boys enough to talk about my old father in front of them? The answer was simple.

_Yes…_

So, for the next few minutes I told the boys everything; how I always got slapped by my old father at least once or twice a day, how he would rage on me whenever he drank, how he would starve me in the morning and never gave me anything until at least the afternoon. I even told them about how I got the scar on my right shoulder, showing it to all of them. They all reacted differently to seeing the scar; Donnie looked horrified, Leo looked shocked and confused, Raph looked furious, and Mikey looked like he was about to burst into tears.

"It went on for eight years," I later explain, pulling the short sleeve of my nightgown back over the scar. "Then one night, he got really mad at me," I paused. "He's… he's the one who broke my leg, the night we all met. I guess he dumped me in the ally after he was done with me. Then you guys found me…"

But I couldn't go on after that. I just…couldn't. What more could I say? How else could I explain? I just exposed all my dark secrets of the horrible man who raised me to these four boys- boys who have been my brothers for over a year, and I trusted them completely. But that didn't make the pain of explaining everything lessen. I was gripping at my bed sheets, my fingers feeling like they were about to tare a hole in them. I was biting down on my lip hard to keep down the sob that was threatening to burst from my throat.

"Look, it's alright," I said, but the crack in my voice said otherwise. "Really. Just… just go back to bed. It doesn't matter…"

I squinted my eyes shut, forcing the hot tears in my eyes to stay in and not fall down. I heard feet shuffling, and I opened my eyes up. The boys had all huddled around each other, whispering to each other. Mikey appeared to be the one talking the most, like he had a plan that the others were listening to. After a few moments they all straightened up, smiling as they nodded to each other. Then they all turned and headed for the door. I raised my eyebrow as they all walked out, except for Mikey, who stood by the doorway.

"Grab your pillow, Nia," he said. "Then come out, okay?"

"What?"

But he turned and left the room. I stared after him, confused. _Alright, then…_ I sighed as I reached behind me and grabbed my pillow. Pulling the covers off of me, I stood up and walked out the door, and I could see Mikey standing there with his own pillow, too.

"Hold up!"

Suddenly he jumped at me and covered my eyes with his hands. I yelped slightly, staggering back a few steps.

"Mikey! Wha-"

"Shh! We gotta be quiet!" he whispered. "Splinter's still asleep. Go on, guys."

I heard more shuffling of feet, and I knew the others were walking away.

"It's okay, Nia," Mikey said. "Just keep your eyes closed, and I'll be your guide.

Confused, but wanting to play along with whatever game he was playing, I did as Mikey asked and kept my eyes closed when he removed his hands from my face. He grabbed my hand with his, but grabbed my wrist since my hand was holding a pillow, and quickly but quietly started pulling me away. I was a little nervous as to where he was taking me, but I trusted him enough not to worry. Besides, I knew this place well enough to know where I was going. He had already led me out of the hall where all the bedrooms were at and appeared to be leading me to the living room.

"Easy…" Mikey whispered, and he let go of my hands. "Okay… open."

I grinned slightly, already anticipating something good coming from this, and I opened my eyes. As expected, we were in the living room, but it looked different. The small table that usually sat in front of the couch had been moved out of the way into some other location. This would've left the floor bare if it weren't for the large blankets placed next to each other, making it look like one big quilt. Four small pillows laid on different spots, indicated that those spots were reserved. I looked around and saw Leo, Don, and Raph standing around the blankets, smiles spread across their faces.

"What is this?" I asked them, gesturing to the display.

"We're gonna have a sleepover," Mikey said happily.

"It was Mikey's idea," said Donnie. "He thought it would make you feel better."

"What do you think?" asked Leo.

I looked back down at the pile of blankets, clutching the pillow close to my chest. What could I say? "Thank you?" No, it wasn't enough. "It's wonderful?" Still not enough. _Well, what else could I say?_

"…I love it."

_There, that sounds good. _It definitely seemed enough, because all the boys smiled at me. Mikey made a small, happy sound as he ran up and jumped down on the blankets, sitting by the pillow at the bottom left corner. I giggled as I walked over to the blankets and sat directly in the middle. I sat and waited as the others came down to join me and Mikey; Donnie sat across from Mikey, Raph sat at the top right corner, and Leo sat at the top left. They were all messing with their pillows and straightening the blankets to mold together as I set my pillow down and laid my head against it.

"Thanks guys," I sighed. "Really, thanks."

"That's what brothers are for," I heard Donnie say.

I looked up and saw Leo and Raph grinning down at me. There was a tiny giggle and I felt somebody wrap their arms around my waist. I glanced down, and as predicted, it was Mikey. He had a calm, happy smile on his face, his eyes were closed, and he nuzzled his nose into my tummy.

"Don't worry, Nia," he said lowly, nuzzling his face a little more. "We won't let that mean man get you."

I smiled, placing my hand on his head, rubbing my fingers against his scalp before folding that arm under my head. I glanced over at Donnie, and was surprised to see him scoot up slightly and rest his head against my leg. He paused for a second, then reached up and grabbed my hand that was laying at my side.

"You'll never see him again," he said as he closed his eyes.

I blinked, surprised at what was happening. Suddenly I felt something slide under my left arm and then wrap around my shoulder, gripping it tightly. I turned my head to the left, and I realized that it was Raph. He was holding onto my shoulder, his forehead buried in my shoulder blade.

"He'll never hurt yah," he whispered gruffly. "Never."

I smiled at him, not sure what to say. Something then grabbed my right wrist, rubbing it gently. I turned my head back to the right, and I saw Leo holding onto my wrist, rubbing it with his large thumb.

"You'll always be safe with us, Nia," he said gently. "No matter what."

I couldn't help it. I just couldn't. I blinked, and a single tear from the tears I would've cried before in my room fell. But instead of being a tear of sadness, it came out as a tear of joy. And, feeling happier and more safe than I had ever been, I closed my eyes, and fell asleep with my four amazing brothers.

* * *

><p>Splinter's P.O.V.<p>

I knew that my sons were good children. I could look into their eyes and know that they were good. And I knew that they cared for Lavinia. I've heard them say multiple times that they loved their sister very dearly, and I knew that their words and their hearts were true. They could never lie about something like that. But I do not think I ever truly knew the power in their words, or how truly they loved the dear girl. Until now…

I had been inside the dojo, meditating as I usually did. I was interrupted when I had heard Lavinia scream. It wasn't a normal scream; it was the same scream she always did whenever she had a nightmare about her old father. I had rushed to see if she was alright, but my sons had already beaten me too it. I was just outside the door, away from site, and watched as they went to comfort Lavinia. A few words were said, and then something happened that I did not expect. Lavinia had told the boys everything about her old father, even going so far as to tell them about the scar on her shoulder. Not long after that the boys had all ran to their rooms, coming back out with their blankets in pillows. I had stayed in the shadows, watching as three of my sons laid the blankets out so they were all connected, looking like a one large, colorful blanket. Michelangelo had come out with Lavinia, who had her eyes closed. My sons had surprised her with the display they made, explaining that they were all going to sleep together, all to make her feel better.

I had already been sincerely touched at this point, enjoying the way my sons appreciated their newest sibling. But I was not prepared for what came next. After they had all gotten on the pile of blankets, Lavinia had laid down in the center to go to sleep. Then Michelangelo wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her stomach.

"Don't worry Nia. We won't let that mean man get you."

Donatello then laid his head against her leg, holding her hand in his own.

"You'll never see him again."

I had been most surprised by Raphael's next action; he had wrapped his small arm under Lavinia's, holding onto her as though he were clutching for dear life.

"He'll never hurt yah. Never."

Leonardo had simply held her wrist in his hand, a smile on his face.

"You'll be safe with us, Nia. No matter what."

I now stand behind the couch, watching as my five children slept against one another, clinging to each other like they could never be separated. I sighed and smiled down at them all. _Children are such a blessing, _I thought to myself. _So happy, so innocent. Shame this only lasts for so long… _Then a small idea came to my head. I quickly but quietly went over to a shelf that was on a far wall of the living room. On one shelf, hidden by a few books, was a large, polaroid camera. I had found it some time ago in the sewers. My sons and daughter had had so much fun with it, taking as many silly photos as they could. I looked into the film, and saw it had enough for one picture. I turned my head, smiling at my five children. _I simply can't help myself, _I thought happily.

I slowly and quietly walked back to stand over the five, sleeping children. They were all still nuzzled together, sleeping soundly, dreaming whatever dreams that could come from their wonderful imaginations. I raised the camera, looking through it. My finger hovered over the button, hesitating for a moment. A moment like this was too precious to leave alone. It simply had to be saved. To remind my children that, when they grow older, that they were all innocent and purely happy once.

I pushed the button, the camera flashed, and the precious moment of my five children sleeping together was then forever saved.

* * *

><p><strong>That's it! That's the end of the prologue! Next time you see me, I'll be posted the stuff that takes place during the actual season! Yay! Ok, listen, i gotta go right now, but i'll c you bros later. Promise! Please leave me some reviews people! It really motivates me to write more when you tell me how much you like my stories. Bye loves!<strong>


	6. Rise of the Ninjas: Part 1

**Oh... My... God! This chapter took soooo long to write! But, I think it was worth it. But, I'll let you be the judge of that!**

* * *

><p>Ch. 1<br>Rise of the Ninjas: Part 1

Ah, training. One of the more interesting times of the day. It's also the only time of the day that my brothers are actually allowed to throw a few punches at each other without getting in trouble. I don't mind, though. They never mean to hurt each other, anyway. Besides, they're boys, and boys love to wrestle even if they aren't ninjas. And anyway, I can usually pull them apart before things get out of hand. Because if I don't, Sensei surly will. But, back to the training…

I was currently sitting on the sideline, watching as my brothers prepared to fight. With there being an uneven number of us, this was a usual routine that happened here; the guys fought, and I waited for one to get out so I could replace them. Raph and Donnie were on one side, kneeling in front of each other, waiting to fight. Leo and Mikey were on the other side of the room, both kneeling down on one knee, staring intently at each other. _This might take a while, _I thought to myself. I took out two hair ties from my pocket and did my hair in my usual style; two low ponytails that hung over my shoulders.

Suddenly the two jumped to their feet. Leo held his katana in front of him, and Mikey withdrew his nunchucks from his belt, tucking the ends of each pair under his arms. Their eyes narrowed as they stared at each other, each one daring the other to go first. It must've worked, because after a few seconds Leo raised his katana and ran forward, letting out a battle cry. But as soon as he did, Mikey's glare turned into a playful smirk.

"Oh yeah! Michelangelo's on the move!"

Mikey charged forward as well, twirling both pairs of nunchucks. They both met halfway, and Leo swung where Mikey was. But Mikey was too quick for him, and dodged, jumping over Leo and landing behind him. Leo glared as Mikey swung his nunchucks, busting some fancy moves.

"You don't know what to do!"

I let out a small giggle. _Too slow, Leo. _Said turtle charged forward and gave another swing, and another, but still, Mikey dodged the strikes.

"I'm here! I'm there!" Mikey smirked as he landed on the ground, now down on his knee. "I could be _anywhere_!"

Suddenly his eyes went white and wide, and he quickly dodged another hard strike from our older brother. Leo turned to face him, and I could've sworn I saw him smirk. _What's he up to…?_

"How do you stop what you can't even see?" Mikey taunted, dancing around a bit before taking a stance.

Leo took a stance as well, holding his sword at his side. Mikey raised his nunchucks in the air as he ran forward, ready to strike. He was only a foot away from his target when Leo suddenly flipped his sword, and brought the end forward. Hard. The handle of the katana delivered a hard blow to Mikey's stomach, smacking against his plastron. I hissed, wincing slightly. _That'll knock the wind out of you. _Sure enough, Mikey dropped his nunchucks, somersaulted around Leo, and stopped in a kneeling position. He let out a painful gasp, and fell down on his side.

"Like that?" Leo asked.

"G…Good one, Leo…" Mikey choked.

Leo raised his brow, staring down at his little brother. Mikey rolled off of his shell and started to crawl towards me, a look of agony on his face, and he reached out for me.

"Tag in, Nia!" he coughed, though it sounded a little more dramatic now. "Tag in! Avenge me…!"

He let out a sickly groan as his head fell to the floor, his hand still raised towards me. I rolled my eyes. _Oh, my little Drama Queen… _I lifted my hand up and patted his lightly.

"I shall avenge you, dear brother."

I stood up from my spot and jumped up to Mikey's former place. Leo looked at me for a moment, then a small grin grew on his face.

"Come on, Nia. You know how this is gonna end," he told me. "You could just back out now, if you want."

I chuckled. "You say that like I'm gonna listen to you."

I bent over and reached down to the small strap on my right leg that held my tessen. I pulled it out and quickly opened it, taking a defensive stance. Leo's grin turned into a smirk and he took a stance, holding his katana out towards me.

"Nia, don't make me force you," he sang sweetly. "You can still back down."

Now, I don't know why he always talks like this when he's training with me, but I don't mind. It's kind of fun when he does. Besides, I know he doesn't mean it. Leo _loves _training.

"Now, where's the fun in that?" I asked.

Leo chuckled slightly, turning to fully face me, holding his katana near him in a stance. We stood there for a few moments, keeping our eyes locked. I decided I didn't want him to charge first, so I quickly darted forward, my arms at my sides. Leo charged at the same time as me, and like he did with Mikey, he met me halfway. But just as it looked like I was about to strike, I spun to my right and moved out of the way. Leo turned his head to look up at me just as I lifted my left leg up and attempted to kick his shell. But he turned and raised his left arm up and blocked it. I swung my right hand down to strike with my tessen, and he blocked it with his katana. He gave a powerful shove that caused me to stumble back several feet, but I steadied myself quickly.

Leo charge up to me, raising his katana in the air, ready to strike. I ducked down in time and lifted my hand up to grab his wrist. I closed my tessen, reared my arm back, and swung forward, delivering a hard blow to Leo's lower stomach. He hunched over slightly, giving a gruff groan. I pushed his arm out of the way and stood up, whipped around and swung my leg up, striking him in the shoulder. He took a few steps back, holding his katana up across is face, ready to block. I tossed my tessen forward and a loud _clang _sounded as the two metal weapons connected. While Leo was distracted with blocking my weapon I charged forward until I was in front of him. I kneeled down, spun around, and kicked his legs, knocking him down. Leo made a noise of surprise as he fell flat on his shell on the floor, and his katana fell out of his hand. I swiped up my tessen from the floor and before Leo could even sit up I jumped up and placed my foot on his chest. I raised my tessen up and pointed it towards his face.

"You give?" I asked, trying desperately to keep myself from laughing at the dumbfounded look on Leo's face.

He blinked at the tessen, then up at me. Then he grinned slightly and gave a small shrug.

"Alright, I can take a hint."

I nodded, moving my foot off of his plastron. "Good boy."

_Man, this is awesome! I haven't beaten Leo in weeks!_

"Ooh, you got knocked out!" Mikey jeered.

I giggled. "C'mon Mikey, leave the poor boy alone."

I leaned to the side and placed a hand on my hip as Leo slowly got up to his feet, picking his katana off the floor. He walked over to sit next to Mikey on the other side of the room and I turned to look at my other two brothers.

Donnie, who was now on his feet, did a few cool moves with his staff, spinning it to the sides and above his head. Say what you will about a Bo staff, but Donnie sure knew how to make good use of one. Donnie stopped spinning the staff around him and took a stance, pointing the staff at Raph. Raph stood still, an almost bored expression on his face. He bent his head from right to left, making a loud cracking sound, and shook his head slightly.

"Alright Donnie, put down the staff and no one gets hurt."

"Ah, you said that last time Raph, and then you hurt me!"

"Yeah, but… less than I would have."

"Yeah, right!"

Donnie ran forward and swung his staff down at Raph. But said turtle had just managed to roll out of the way, even dodging another strike from the Bo staff. Donnie spun the staff at his side and then struck forward, making a loud _howa_-like sound as he nearly hit Raph in the throat. Raph leaned back just enough for the blow to miss. Donnie brought the staff back, spinning it above his head and making another sound as he brought it down. Raph moved to his right and dodged the strike, and he did a few flips to land back in front of Donnie. Don spun the staff, turned while spinning it behind his back, and did a full circle while keeping the weapon in motion. He spun the weapon above his head and swung it down at Raph, who dodged it once more.

_C'mon Raph, quit toying with him, _I thought to myself. Donnie stood back for a couple seconds, a determined look on his face. He swung the staff out, spun it above his head as he walked forward, and made a loud "heeyah!" sound as he swung his staff down in an effort to strike. I say 'effort' because he didn't hit anything. Reason being; Raph had managed to take it out of his hands. Donnie looked down at his hands, gasped slightly, and looked up. Raph was leaning against the Bo staff, an almost evil grin plastered on his face. He spun the staff for a second before bringing the weapon down against his knee, snapping it in two. He held the two pieces up, his grin now larger. Donnie blinked, looking a little scared.

"…Should've dropped the staff?"

"Should've dropped the staff."

Raph spun the two pieces of wood in his hands before charging forward. Donnie stepped back a few feet before turning and bending over, covering his head with his hands. Raph showed no mercy and started beating against Donnie's shell with the wood of the broken staff.

"Okay, okay- _Ow! _I'm down!"

I rolled my eyes. _Alright, that's it. _I stepped forward towards the two and cleared my throat loudly. Raph stopped hitting Donnie and turned his head to look at me. His smirk turned into a small grin as he turned to face me completely, dropping the pieces of wood on the ground.

"Well, look who's come to save the day," he teased.

I gave a small "hm," sound. Donnie looked up at me, and I nodded to the side of the room where Leo and Raph were sitting. He nodded, and slowly got to his feet and walked over to the spot. From the corner of my eye I saw Mikey stick his tongue out playfully at Donnie, who simply glared back at our younger brother. I slowly took a few steps towards Raph, and he took a few steps towards me. We stopped when we were a few feet away from each other and looked at one another.

"You plan on beating me with that?" Raph asked, nodding at my tessen.

"I could," I told him. "But, not today."

Believe it or not, I didn't always train with my tessen when I was training with Raphael. Why? Because when I trained with him I needed something that was a little more sturdy. See, this is my situation; sometimes, the other guys went a little easy on me when we trained. I didn't really understand why. I wasn't sure whether it was because I was their sister or because I was a girl, or it could be both! Either way, I didn't really like it. I didn't want to be treated easily. I wanted to train with the guys the same way they trained with each other; without worry and without complaints. I liked being treated like an equal. The only one who understood my opinion was Raph. He understood that I didn't want to be treated like a punching bag, but I didn't want to be treated like an amateur, either. He didn't try to pummel me when I trained with him, but he didn't go easy on me either. He treated me like an equal, and that's how I liked it.

I closed up my tessen and slipped it back into the holster on my leg. As I was still bent over, I reached behind me and grabbed onto the wooden ends of my kamas, which were both placed in my belt-loops. I slipped them out of their loops and brought them out into the open, spinning them a bit before holding them out in front of me. Raph let out a dry chuckle as he pulled his sais out of his belt.

"You get hurt," he said. "I take no responsibility."

But even as he smirked at me, I knew that that was just his way of saying, "good luck." And that's just how he was during training. See, all the boys have different ideas on what training really is. To Mikey, it was a fun and exciting game. To Donnie, it was a new experiment that told him how to get better. To Leo, it was an everyday way of life. To Raph, it was always a competition. Always.

"Whatever you say, Raphie."

I took a step back and got into a defensive stance, holding my kamas out. Raph spun his sais a bit, holding them out towards me. We stood there and stared for a few moments. _Okay… now!_ I charged up to Raph, kamas held in the air, and I struck down at him. Raph held his sais up in time and blocked it. I held my kamas in place, pushing them down as hard as I could. Raph pushed me off and I ducked as he swung his right sai at me. I looked up at him, kamas held at the ready; one at my side, the other by my face. Raph held his sais up, made a loud noise that sounded like a battle cry, and charged at me. I stood up and swung both of my kamas around me so that they came down towards Raph. He used his right fist to push both of my arms to the side and raised his left sai up. I spun out of the way to my left, causing Raph to move forward. He did a somersault and landed in a stance on his knee. I charged at him, both of my kamas raised in the air. I jumped up and attempted to strike him from above, but he turned in time and blocked me with his sais. I forced his arms to the side, and I knocked one of his sais out of his hands. He used what ever force he had, and used his remaining sai to knock the kama from my left hand away from me. It headed straight for the others, but Leo quickly caught it in his hand. I took a few steps back, trying to regain a little of my breath. _This is it… here it comes… _Me and Raph stared at each other for a few more seconds before we charged, both of us letting out loud battle cries. We both met each other half way, and raised our weapons.

I knew it was hopeless the second I heard the loud _clang _of metal against metal. A second after our weapons met, my kama was somehow knocked out of my hand, and thudded to the floor. Before I knew what was happening Raph caught my wrist between the short blade and the long blade of his sai. He grabbed a hold of my arm and used the sai that had my wrist and used it to pull me down. Really hard. This caused me to flip over his shoulder and land with a loud _ka-thump _onto the floor. I moaned slightly as I felt the wind get knocked out of me. A small twitch of pain was present in my wrist, and I grasped it gently.

"Okay… that hurt…" I moaned, squinting my eyes shut.

"Nice try, Nia."

I opened my eyes and looked up at Raph, and he had a smug, victorious smirk on his face. Then he lowered his hand down towards me. I grinned slightly as I reached up and gasped his hand. Raph gave a huge tug and pulled me up to my feet.

"Thanks," I said as I blushed myself off.

"I'm surprised," said Raph. "You haven't beaten Leo in a while. Figured he might beat you again."

I gave a hearty laugh as I walked over to where my kama lay on the floor and bent over to pick it up.

"You underestimate me, Raphael," I said, slipping the kama back into my belt loop. "It's only been a week or two since the last time I beat Leo."

"Two weeks and three days to be exact," Donnie stated.

"Exactly," Raph folded his arms. "That's longer than last time, Nia. You're not starting to slack off, are you?"

I made a slightly irritated noise as I retrieved my other kama from Leo, but it wasn't serious. I turned to look at Raph, smirking slightly as I raised my weapon up to him.

"Now, do I really looked like a slacker to you, Raph?"

Raph, still smirking at me, opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off as another voice spoke up.

"Yame!"

_Ah, there's our Sensei now. _I placed my other kama in my belt loop as the others got into a line, kneeling down in the middle of the room. I walked over and sat by Raph, and Leo sat next to me. Snesei made his way over to us, one hand by his side, the other holding a large cane. As he walked passed us Leo bowed so low that his head nearly touched the ground. _Aw, such a cute teacher's pet. _Sensei passed by me, and rather than bowing my whole body to the ground like Leo, I gave a small, but respectable bow of my head.

"You all did very well," he told us.

"But I did better," said Raph.

I blinked and turned to stare at him. _Not this again._

"Raph, watch it…" I whispered warningly.

"This is about self-improvement, Raphael," said Splinter. "It is not about winning and losing."

"I know, Sensei. But, I won and… they lost."

_Here it comes… _Not even a second later Sensei reached down and pressed his finger to Raph's neck. Raph let out a painful yelp as his pressure point was hit, and I winched slightly.

"But! What's really important is that we all did our best! Good job everyone!"

Sensei released his hold, and Raph fell to the ground, gasping. I heard Sensei give a small chuckled from behind me, and I had to bite my lip to keep myself from laughing.

"With all due respect," I whispered to Raph as he sat up, rubbing his neck. "But, I _did_ warn you."

* * *

><p>Lunch came and went just like it usually did. Sensei and the boys ate their worms and algae while I ate my usual bowl of rice. Our meals were still a little entertaining these days, because the boys still acted the way they used to when they ate; Leo ate without complaints, Raph stabbed the food with his chopsticks, Donnie hacked in disgust, and Mikey ate all of his stuff and finished before everyone else did.<p>

"There's a little more algae and worms left if anyone wants it," Mikey held the huge pot out towards us, as though he were trying to tempt us to take it. "Anybody? _Anybody?_"

"No thanks."

"I'm good."

"All yours."

Mikey raised his brows at them, and I giggled slightly.

"Well, I guess no one left room for…cake!"

I snapped my head up. _What? Cake?! _Then Mikey pulled out from behind him a large, green and blue cake with a single candle stuck in the middle.

"No way!" I said, leaning over the table to hook closer at the dish.

"It _is_ a cake!" said Donnie, sounding just as surprised.

Raph then stuck his finger out, scrapped a bit of stuff off of the cake, and licked it.

"Made of…algae," a small pink object poked up from the top and crawled over the surface. "And worms…"

I slowly slumped back down into my seat in disappointment.

"Well, so much for that," I mumbled.

"What's the frosting made out of?" Leo asked.

"You don't wanna know," Mikey glanced around, then he beamed. "Happy Mutation Day!"

"Happy Mutation Day!" the boys all chorused.

"And!" Mikey put an arm around my shoulders. "Happy Birthday to our sista from another mista!"

I giggled, patting the green hand that was gripping my shoulder.

"Thanks Mikey. And as the only birthday girl here, I get to blow out the candle."

I leaned forward and closed my eyes for a second. Then I blew the tiny flame out.

"What did you wish for?" Donnie asked.

"A real cake," I leaned back and looked the cake up and down. "Hasn't happened yet. Well, Happy Mutation Day, you guys."

"Thanks, Nia," said Leo.

"Ah, yes," said Sensei. "15 years ago today our lives changed forever, and we became the unlikeliest of families."

"Tell us the story, Master Splinter!" Mikey begged.

"Michelangelo, I have already told it many times."

"Please! Pleas-"

But his begging was cut off as Raph suddenly slapped a hand over Mikey's mouth.

"Please," he said. "It's the only way to shut Mikey up."

Sensei sighed. "Very well… Many years ago, when I was still human, I was leaving the pet store with four baby turtles…"

"That was us!" Mikey piped up.

"Yes… Don't interrupt!" Sensei cleared his throat as Mikey sat back down. "I passed a strange man on the street. Something felt off about him… I decided to follow."

I rested my chin in my hand, listening closely. No matter how many times Sensei told this story, it was always so interesting to me. I listen as he told us everything; how he had followed the strange man to an alley, how he had given himself away by accidentally stepping on a rat's tail, and how the strange man- now accompanied by several others- had tried to attack Splinter. Emphasis on 'tried.' Master Splinter had managed to fight all of the strange men off, all while still holding the baby turtles. Unfortunately, during the fight, one of the men had dropped a strange canister filled with glowing green ooze. It had fallen to the ground, smashed open, and the ooze had gotten on Splinter and his pets, turning them into the people that were sitting with me today.

"That was the beginning of our life together," Splinter held the strange container up for us all to see. "It was the mysterious substance in the this canister that, in a way, gave birth to us all."

Mikey snatched the canister from Splinter and hugged it tightly. "Mom!"

I snorted slightly. _Not much of a family resemblance. _I cleared my throat and turned to look at Leo.

"Leo? Wasn't there something you wanted to ask?"

"Hm? Oh!" Leo grinned and looked over at Splinter. "So Sensei, now that we're 15, I think we're finally ready to go up to the surface, don't you?"

We all turned to look at Sensei, and I could feel my hear begin to swell with hope like a balloon. Maybe this time, he'll let us go. And I'll be able to go up to surface after being down here for 7 years. _Please say yes, please say yes…_

"Yes."

I gasped as all of the boys cheered and punched their fists in the air.

"And no."

_Pop! _There went my balloon. I stared open-mouthed at Sensei as the guys lowered their fists, groaning in disappointment.

"I hate it when he does that," said Raph.

"You and me both," I grumbled, folding my arms across my chest.

"You have grown powerful, but you are still young," Sensei stood up form his seat. "You lack the maturity to use your skills wisely."

"Not all of us," I muttered under my breath.

"You might be the most mature, Lavinia, but that does not mean you are prepared for what is out there."

I gulped as my face got slightly warm. _Dang it, he heard me._

"So Sensei," said Donnie. "Isn't that just… 'no?'"

"Yes… and no."

_What? Okay, now I'm confused._

"Wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from making mistakes."

Donnie grinned. "Ah-ha! So, in order to gain the wisdom we have to make the mistake, so we _can _go!"

"No."

"And…yes?" Donnie asked hopefully.

"No!"

Donnie reared his head back and groaned.

"Sensei," Leo started. "We know you're trying to protect us, but we can't spend our whole lives hiding down here."

"He's right, Sensei," I piped up. "I mean, we're never gonna be able to know how to defend ourselves from the things up above if we never go there."

Sensei turned from us, stroking his thin beard. I turned to look at the boys and leaned in.

"Time to start begging, boys. Get your game faces on."

They all nodded. In less than a second we were on the floor, kneeling in front of our Sensei, clasping our hands together, and giving huge puppy-dog eyes. Sensei turned, and blinked in surprise when he saw us. He looked down at all the boys before looking down at us. He looked down at all the boys before looking down at me.

"Please, Sensei?" I begged in the sweetest voice I could muster.

Finally, Sensei sighed. "You may go. Tonight."

I gasped in delight and shouted as my brothers chorused, "YEAH," coupled with Mikey's signature, "BOOYAKASHA!"

"High-three!" Mikey shouted, raising his hand in the air.

We all accepted his call, and raised our hands to meet in our usual five-way high-three.

* * *

><p>Music; one of my favorite past-time entertainments. I love listening to it, but I love playing it even more. Yeah, you heard me, I play music. Guitar, to be specific. When I was eleven, I found some old music books with different songs inside, and it was all for the guitar. All I had to do was look in the book and I was hitched. I desperately wanted to learn how to play the songs inside the book, but I didn't know anyone who could teach me. Or so I thought. Turns out Master Splinter could play guitar. He told me that he had a friend from his school days who taught him how to play. Sensei didn't really play anymore, but when he discovered my fascination for the instrument he was more than happy to teach me. He even had a nice, six-string acoustic guitar that he had kept hidden away in his room. I remember asking him why he still had it if he didn't really play it anymore.<p>

"_I did not see the point in throwing away such a beautiful instrument," _he had told me.

And boy, it _was _beautiful. The soundboard and the headstock were a gorgeous color of sky blue, and the edges and sides were solid black. With the way the paint was designed it looked as though someone simply spray painted it, letting the colors fade into each other. The sound hole was painted black, making the six white strings stand out. And this thing could play just _beautifully_.

I was currently sitting on a set of stairs, just a few seats below Raph, who was reading a magazine. Leo was sitting on the floor in front of the TV watching an episode of 'Space Heroes.' I was simply playing my guitar. I wasn't playing loud enough to annoy Leo, but it was enough for everyone to still hear.

"Can you play louder?" Raph asked, not looking up from his magazine. "I can still hear Leo's dumb cartoon."

"Shh!" Leo hissed.

I rolled my eyes as I strummed a few notes. Leo could be such a fanboy sometimes. Well… maybe he is all the time…

"_Mr. Crankshaw, status report!"_

"_Status?! I'll give you the status! We're gonna blow up in two seconds!_

I leaned over a bit to look at the screen just in time to see Mr. Crankshaw get slapped by Captain Ryan.

"_Thank you, captain…"_

I raised my brow. Suddenly, Leo stood up from his spot and held his hand up. _Oh man, not again…_

"Gentleman, I have a bold and daring plan," he spoke in unison with Captain Ryan on the screen. "There's no time for hesitation. My orders must be carried out without question!"

"_Aye, sir!"_

I smacked my hand over my mouth, my laughter coming out as loud snorts. No matter how many times Leo did this it was always so funny.

"You know this show is stupid, right?" said Raph.

Leo whipped his head around. "'Space Heroes' is a great show," he defended. "And Captain Ryan is a great hero. Someday, I'm gonna be just like him."

Raph finally looked up from his magazine. "Well, you do like to listen to yourself talk, so you're on your way."

I chuckled as Leo glared at him.

"Well… you don't complain when Nia takes the remote to watch 'Impractical Jokers!'" he said accusingly.

"Yeah, cause that show is actually funny!" Raph snapped. "Your show bores me to sleep."

Leo grumbled irritably and folded his arms. I giggled as I set my guitar down.

"Don't worry, Leo," I said as I started put my hair into two low ponytails. "Not every show can be worthy of everyone's attention."

"It's go time!"

I turned my head to see Mikey and Donnie standing there, big grins on their faces.

"C'mon, Nia!" Mikey ran up to me and shook my shoulders. "Put down the guitar and grab your gear! We gots to go!"

I laughed, excitement now filling me up. _This is gonna be epic!_

* * *

><p>It took us only a few minutes for us all to gather up our weapons. I decided to change into my usual outfit; a green tank-top and a pair of black cargo shorts. I made sure to wear the new belt that Donnie had designed for me. It was solid black, real thick, and made with velcro. It wrapped around my entire waist and had two large loops on the front for me to put my kamas through horizontally. Rather than just leaving them exposed, I decided to wear my white, sleeveless, zip-up hoodie.<p>

After we got our weapons we all waited for Sensei to give the 'okay.' We were all in a straight line, standing at attention.

"You are going up to a strange and hostile world," Sensei told us. "You must maintain awareness at all times."

"Hai, Sensei!" we all chorused, and we turned to leave.

"Stay in the shadows," Splinter added, and we snapped back into the line.

"Hai, Sensei!"

We turned to leave again, but…

"Don't talk to strangers."

Back to our spots again.

"Hai, Sensei," we said, less enthusiastic this time.

"Everyone is a stranger!" Sensei snapped before we could take more than one step.

_Okay, now he's just being an over-protective parent, _I thought.

"Hai, Sensei…" we all sighed, now sounding rather bored.

We all turned to leave for a fourth time, but we had only gone a few steps when Sensei spoke up again.

"Make sure you go before you leave! The restrooms up there are filthy!"

"_Sensei!" _we said exasperatedly.

Splinter sighed. "Good luck, my children."

I smiled as me and he guys let out exclamations of glee, and we finally sprinted through the exit.

"Look both ways before crossing the street!"

I rolled my eyes. _Geez, have a little faith, Sensei._

* * *

><p>"It's beautiful…" Mikey breathed as we stood in the dark, abandoned alley.<p>

_Okay, not the word I'd use, but… _Slowly but confidently, we all walked out of the alley and into the street. I was a little worried that some random person might see one of the guys, but it was late, and there was no one in sight. That in mind, I strode out into the middle of the street with a skip in my step and a smile on my face.

"This city is just full of possibility!" said Leo excitedly. "There could be an adventure around this corner…"

He peeked his head around the corner, but there was nothing there.

"Or this one…"

He peeked around the corner of a closed restaurant, but there was still nothing.

"Or this one!"

He looked into another dark alley, but there was nothing there but a dumpster with a cat on it. The cat meowed at us before walking off.

"There's not, but there _could _be!" Leo said happily.

I shook my head as I looked around at the others. Raph had his arms folded, examining the area. Mikey was having fun and doing some flips in the street. Donnie was walking on the sidewalk when he suddenly gasped, and he pressed his face and hands to the glass of a shop.

"Look at all the computers! Is that the next generation cadmium processor with quantum encryption?"

"I don't know, Donatello!" Raph said sarcastically. "Is it?"

Donnie looked back inside. "It is!"

I rolled my eyes. "Only someone like you could get this excited about electronics, Donnie."

He frowned slightly at me as I looked all over the place. My eyes glanced over across the street and a building caught my eye.

"Oh my God!"

I suddenly sprinted pass the boys and across the street towards the building. I slammed my face to the glass, my hands pressing against it as I gazed into the closed music store.

"Dude! Look at all this stuff! Half of these songs I've never even heard of," I squinted my eyes and peered inside more. "Oh God, that guitar back there is hot!"

From behind me I heard Donnie give a loud snort. "And you think I over react," he said.

"I can't help it!" I said. "The stuff in here is just beautiful…"

"Well, now we know what to get you for Christmas," said Raph, who was looking into the store from over my shoulder.

"Guys, guys! Check this out!"

We all turned to look at Mikey. He was gazing at a store's neon sign, which looked like an orange hand with a blue eye inside. Mikey, looking amazed by the sign, pressed his face to the glass.

"A hand made out of light…"

Suddenly the hand's light turned off, and the blue eye lit up. Mikey gasped.

"Now it's an eye made out of light!"

The hand lit up.

"And the hand again! Now the eye's back! Now the hand!"

"It's just a neon sign Mikey," I tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen.

Raph walked up to Mikey, grabbed him by the tails of his orange mask, and pulled the younger turtle away from the glass and into the street.

"C'mon, genius."

"The eye…!"

I sighed as I followed the two into the street, where Donnie and Leo were now standing.

"So, where to next?" asked Donnie.

Before any of us could answer there was a loud purr of an engine, and we turned our heads to see the glow of headlights. A motorcycle pulled up in front of us, and there was a boy riding it. The boy stared at us, we stared back. It seemed we were all startled into silence. Then Raph raised his hands and growled at the human. The boy screamed and spun his cycle around, speeding away in a cloud of smoke, wheel squeaking. I sighed, placing my hands on my hips and turning to face my red-banded brother.

"Was that really necessary?" I said, sounding like an irritated mother.

"Nope, but it was fun," he said, smirking at me.

"We're too exposed out here," said Leo.

He turned and looked up at the buildings. The rooftops, to be specific. I had a feeling of what was going through his mind.

"C'mon!"

Leo ran to the buildings, and we all followed. I was about to go up the fire escape when I realized Mikey was still behind. I turned around and saw he was still standing in the street.

"Mikey! C'mon!"

"Coming!"

Mikey appeared to pick up a box-like thing and started running after us.

"Oh boys!" I called when me and Mikey met the others on the roof. "Mikey brought a gift."

"It fell off the dudes' bike," said Mikey as set the thin, white box on a block on the roof.

All the boys crowded around the box, looking down at it. I walked over and squeezed in between Mikey and Raph to look at the box too.

"Pizz-za…?" Mikey read slowly.

"Should we open it?" asked Donnie.

"Careful," Leo warned. "It could be dangerous."

I shrugged. "Well, YOLO."

I reached for it at the same time Raph did, and we both opened the box. A puff of steam emerged, releasing the most delicious smell I had ever experienced. We looked inside and saw there was a large circle with yellow stuff that looked like cheese, red stuff, tiny red circles, and it was cut into tiny red circles.

"I think it's…food," said Donnie.

"It's not like any food I ever saw," said Raph.

I sighed. "Okay, I take back my YOLO. Who wants to try it first?"

"I will," said Mikey.

He reached down and picked up one of the large slices. We all watched him, tension building as Mikey opened his mouth and then took a bite of the slice. His eyes went wide, and for a second I though he was going to spit the stuff out. He chewed a little more, gave a noise of satisfaction, and suddenly stuffed the entire pizzas slice in his mouth. My jaw fell open and I could feel the inside of my hand begin to water. Mikey swallowed his pizza and placed his hands on his plastron as he let out a loud burp. He blinked, saw we were all looking at him, and cleared his throat.

"Uh… Yuck!" he grimaced, but he wasn't fooling us. "You guys won't like it… I'll take the rest!"

"I don't think so!" I said as I grabbed his wrist.

The others were on my side, and grabbed a slice of pizza for themselves. I reached in and grabbed my own. I looked at it for a second before taking a bite. _Oh my God… it's amazing! _I thought as I munched on my bite.

"I never thought I'd taste anything better than worms and algae, but this is amazing!" said Raph.

"I love it up here!" Mikey shouted, throwing his hands up into the air.

* * *

><p>Mikey was right. The surface was awesome! The whole city was like a gigantic playground; the buildings and rooftops were parts of a huge jungle gym, and me and the guys were the excited children playing on it. And our playing consisted of us racing each other across the rooftops of the buildings.<p>

"Too fast for you, Don!" Raph shouted behind him to said brother.

"I'm coming for you, Nia!" I heard Mikey shout.

"C'mon, Leo!" I turned my head to look at the blue-banded turtle. "I'm way ahead of you. You gotta keep up!"

"Don't make me come up there!" he called back. "I swear, I will team up with Mikey and we'll both be after you!"

I laughed as I turned and continued running.

After a few minutes the race finally died down. I jumped over to the next building, ran across the roof, and slid over to the end, coming to a stop. One by one, the boys all did the same, sliding up beside me. We stood up and stared in front of us, taking in the sight of the city. I inhaled through my nose, and exhaled through my mouth. _Oh yeah, I could get used to this._

"Alright guys, it's getting late," said Leo. "We should probably head back home."

The guys all groaned, and I raised my eyebrow.

"Says who?"

"Says me. Beside, I'm the oldest."

I snorted. "Last I checked, we were all 15."

Leo rolled his eyes and turned to leave. We all turned to follow him when suddenly, Donnie gasped.

"Guys! Look at that!"

I turned and saw him pointing down at something. I walked back over and peered down into the street. There were two figures walking along the sidewalk; a tall, middle-aged man with a red beard, and a younger girl who was most likely his daughter. She also had red hair, and even from this distance I could tell she was very pretty.

"It's just a couple of humans, Don," I said, turning my head to look at him. "Nothing really…"

But my voice trailed off as I looked at Donnie's face. His eyes were white and wide, his jaw was hanging open, and I could've sworn I saw him drooling a little.

"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen…"

I blinked as I stared at him, my own mouth falling open. Donnie looked downright dreamy! I could almost see his heart thumping against his plastron.

"Isn't she the only girl you've ever seen?" Raph pointed out. "Besides, Nia?"

Donnie blinked, and turned to look at us. Then he frowned and stuck his nose in the air.

"My point still stands."

Raph looked like he was about to respond, but there was a sudden roar of an engine that made us all look down. A large, white van skidded to a halt in front of the family. _What the…? _Several men, all in black suits, came out of the van and advanced on the father and daughter. They both backed away, looking terrified.

"We gotta save them!" said Donnie.

I nodded. "I'm with you on that one!"

We both tried to move, but Leo put his hands on our shoulders.

"Splinter's instructions were very clear," he informed us. "We're suppose to stay away from people… and _bathrooms_!"

I raised my eyebrow. _He sounds more worried about the bathrooms than the people._

"I thought you wanted to be a hero," said Raph. "Since when do heroes ask for permission?"

"They don't, but-"

"Well, I'm going!" said Donnie, and he jumped off the building.

"We can't let him go alone," I told the others, and I jumped off, too.

By the time we were all on the ground the men in suits had tossed the father into the van.

"Hey!"

Raph then ran up to the guy and punched him in the gut, making the man slide back. After that all the boys went to different men and started fighting them. With one swift movement I reached down to my leg strap and retrieved my tessen, but I didn't open it up. _All I need to do is knock them out._ I raised my tessen and started running towards one of the strange men, but was pushed to the side as Donnie's shell bumped into me.

"Donnie?"

"Sorry, Nia!"

Donnie went back to his own fighting, and so did I. I ran up to one of the suit guys and swung the blunt end of my closed tessen to his face. It hit him right in his jaw and he stumbled back, but he continued to stand. He walked towards me and I charged at him. I jumped into the air and was about to strike from above when suddenly Leo came up and attempted to fight the man in the suit. I say 'attempted' because I ended up hitting him instead. I hit him on the upper part of his shell and this sent us both falling to the ground.

"Leo! What was that?"

But before he could answer the suit guy kicked me in my gut, sending me sliding and them rolling away. I stopped rolling and clutched my stomach.

"Okay… so you don't care about hitting girls…" I got up to my knees, tessen held tightly in my grasp. "That's fine with me."

I started running back towards the man that kicked me when I realized that Leo was still there, crouched down on the ground, looking like he was about to strike from below. Then I got an idea.

"Leo, stay down!"

Leo looked back at me, but before he could move I stepped up on his shell, jumped, and kicked the man in his face. He fell face first into the ground as I landed back on my feet.

"Nice call," Leo said, sounding impressed.

"Thanks."

Then I heard a scream. I turned around and saw that the men had finally gotten the girl into the van.

"They're getting away! They've got the girl!" Donnie shouted, running after the van.

I held my tessen tightly as I ran after him. Raph and Leo followed behind me.

"You just jabbed me with your swords!" Raph shouted.

"Well, I didn't know you were going to land were I was stabbing!" Leo retorted.

"Guys!" I snapped. "We can talk about how bad the fight was later! Right now we gotta find that van and get the family back!"

They both shut up, and we continued on.

* * *

><p>We lost the van. It's sad, but true. We just couldn't catch up to it, and before we knew it, it was gone. Needless to say, Donnie was devastated.<p>

"They got away," he said sadly. "We couldn't save them…"

"Don't worry, Donnie," I said, patting the back of his shell. "I'm sure we'll find them."

Donnie didn't say anything, but nodded in response.

"Hey, where's Mikey?" Leo asked.

No sooner had he asked this then there was a loud, nearby scream.

"Found him," said Raph.

Then, out of nowhere, Mikey appeared and ran up to us.

"Guys! Guys!" he shouted in our faces. "You're never gonna believe it! That dude…!" he pointed somewhere behind him. "He-he… had a brain!"

We all stood there in silence, staring at him. _Okay… weird…_

"We all have brains, Mikey," Leo said simply.

"Not all of us," Donnie added.

"In our _chests_?!" Mikey shouted again, putting his hands against his plastron.

"No Mikey, not in our chests," said Leo, and there was clear irritation in his voice this time.

Mikey stared at us as though we had all grown an extra head, and then he looked angry.

"_You're not listening to me!_"

_Slap!_ Leo had just slapped Mikey across the face. Mikey instantly snapped his head back, his arms coming up into a defensive position.

"…Did you just slap me?" he asked, deadpanned.

"Did you just _slap _him?" I snapped at Leo.

"I was calming him down," he informed me.

"_Why would that calm me down?!_"

"I think he's delusional," said Donnie.

I frowned up at him before I reached up and flicked him by his ear slit.

"Ow!"

"Be nice," I turned and walked up to Mikey. "Mikey, are you feeling okay? You're not getting sick, are you?"

I raised my hand to feel Mikey's forehead, but he grabbed my wrist.

"Just… just c'mere!" he turned and started to drag me away by my wrist. "I'm telling you, this dude was a robot, and he had a freaky weird alien brain thing in his chest!"

I didn't say anything as Mikey continued to drag me off. I turned to look back at the others, shrugging helplessly. Leo sighed, gestured to the other two, and they followed.

"You gotta believe me!" Mikey said desperately.

"I'm not sure we do," said Raph.

"Oh yeah?"

Mikey finally let go of my wrist. He took a few steps forward and pointed into an alley.

"Well, you'll changer your tune when you see that he's…" he turned his head towards the alley, then blinked. "Gone…?"

I turned my head to look into they alley, but it was completely empty.

"There's nothing there, Mikey," I said, turning to look at him.

Mikey looked from me to the others, a desperate look on his face. The other three shook their heads, turning and walking away. Mikey hunched over, looking defeated.

"It's okay, Mikey," I told him, rubbing the back of his shell. "We all make mistakes, no big deal. Besides, we got bigger things to worry about."

"Like what?"

"Like, how Master Splinter is gonna react to all of this."

* * *

><p>"So your inability to work together allowed them to get away!"<p>

I hung my head as I fiddled with my black kneepads. Sensei was really chewing us out about this.

"Well, if I have to wasted time arguing with _hero boy_," Raph glared at Leo. "I could've saved them!"

"Hey, if you hadn't gotten in my way, _I _could've done it!"

I sighed. This is why I sit between these two; _so that they wouldn't kill each other._

"And _you_ went flying off on your own!" Leo snapped at Donnie. "How smart was that?"

"Well, it would've worked out great if _somebody _hadn't hit me in the head with their _nunchucks_!"

Mikey hesitated for a second as we all looked at him.

"Well… none of this would've happened if…" he turned to his left, but there was nobody there. "…_somebody _didn't trust us to go up there in the first place!"

I gasped, horrified, and so did the others. We all turned to look at Splinter, who had stopped pacing.

"Oh, geez…" Mikey mumbled. "Sensei, I didn't mean to…"

"No, Michelangelo, you are right."

"I am?"

"He is?" we all asked(the boys out of surprised, me out of curiosity).

"You were not fully prepared for what was up there," Sensei continued to pace. "I trained you to fight as individuals, not as a team. And as your teacher, your father, the responsibility for that is mine. Perhaps, in another year, we can try again."

_What? No!  
><em>

"Wha- Another year?!" Donnie exclaimed. "Has everyone forgotten that people where kidnapped?! They don't have a year! Sensei, we have to do something _now_!"

Sensei narrowed his eyes, but Donnie held his ground.

"You weren't there, Sensei. You didn't see the way that girl looked into my eyes. She was scared, and she was counting on me- _us_," he said quickly as we all looked at him. "To save her."

Sensei didn't respond. He turned to face the small bookshelf, and I had a feeling he was looking at the picture of his family. This wasn't the first time he had done this. Sometimes, usually after we were done training, I would peek into the dojo to find Sensei gazing at photo. He had told me once before that he had accepted the fact that they were gone- that he had made peace with it. But it was clear that he still missed them.

"Yes," Sensei turned back to us. "You must save her."

"I agree, Sensei," said Leo. "But in that fight, we weren't exactly a well oiled machine."

"Like that robot with the brain thingy!" Mikey piped up.

Raph groaned. "Give it a _rest_."

Sensei stroked his beard. "Hm… If you are to fight more effectively as a unit, you are going to need a leader."

_Oh boy, I know where this is going… _Leo then shot his hand up into the air.

"Can I be the leader?" he asked.

"Why should you get to be the leader?" Raph demanded, now leaning across from me to glare at Leo. "I've kicked your butt over a dozen times! _I _should be the leader."

"Hey, I'm smarter than all of you guys put together, it should be _me_!" Donnie said.

"No way! It should be _me_!" said Mikey.

We all blinked, staring at him with confusion. But Mikey just smiled at us.

"I don't really have a reason, I just think it would be me."

Sensei raised an eyebrow at Mikey, then he turned his gaze to me.

"Lavinia?" he asked. "Do you not have a desire to be leader as well?"

I shrugged. "Eh, not really," I admitted. "It doesn't seem like my kind of thing. Besides, I just go with the flow."

"You'd rather be a follower than a leader?" Leo asked, curiously.

"Yeah."

"Why?" asked Raph. "You'd _want_ to follow somebody instead of-"

"Raphael," Sensei caught Raph's attention. "There is no sense in being a leader if there is not one person willing to follow you."

Raph stared up at him for a few seconds. He looked over at me, glanced at the floor, and turned back to the front again.

"Hai, Sensei."

"This is a difficult decision," said Sensei, and he headed for his room. "I will meditate on it."

He walked into his room, and shut the door. Not even two seconds later he opened the door and poked his head out.

"It's Leonardo."

And he shut the door. _Well, that was quick…_

"No hard feelings, Raph?" Leo asked.

Raph let out an angry growl before standing up and walking away.

"Just stick it in your shell!"

I sighed as I watched him stomp out of the room. Why did he have to stomp out every time he got mad.

"Don't worry, he'll calm down," I said, and I patted Leo's shell. "Congrats, Leo."

"Thanks, Nia."

* * *

><p>I had no idea what Leo's first plan as leader would be, but a stakeout was not what I had expected.<p>

"Explain to me one more time what we're doing here," Mikey whispered.

All the guys reared their heads back and let out irritated groans.

"Mikey, we've been over this," Leo said, his tone suggesting he was talking to a five year-old. "That building has the same logo as the van that was used to kidnap the family. So, if we wait here long enough, one of the kidnappers will eventually show his face. And when he does, we'll make him tell us where he took them."

"And then we got ourselves a van!" Mikey said, punching his fist into the air.

Leo face palmed himself. "Just hit the guy I tell you to!"

Mikey gave him the thumbs up. "Will do!"

Raph didn't look too convinced. "You sure this is gonna work?" he asked.

"Trust me," said Leo. "They'll be here any second."

"He means they _could_ be," I whispered to Raph.

"Yeah, no kiddin'," he looked at me. "You got your playing cards? This is probably gonna take a while."

* * *

><p>Thank God I brought my cards along with me, because if not, me and Raph could've been terribly bored out of our minds. We spent our time on the roof playing games like 'Blackjack,' 'BS,' and 'Slap.' Donnie and Mikey just wandered about the roof, trying out various ways to occupy their time. But even then they were still bored, and after loosing at 'Slap' for the third time in a row, Raph had had enough.<p>

"Do you want me to go easy on you?" I asked honestly as he threw his cards on the ground. "You know it's alright if I do."

"Nah, it's not that," he grumbled, and he turned his head to look at Leo. "How can he just stand there this whole time."

I shrugged. "No idea. I've known you guys for 7 years and you all still find ways to surprise me."

Raph huffed as he stood up. I sighed and scooped up all of my cards to put them back in the box as he stomped over towards Leo.

"Give it up already!" he groaned. "The guy's not gonna show up."

"We have to be patient," Leo said simply.

Raph shook his head. "No, _you _have to come up with a better plan. 'Cause the five of us here with our thumbs up our noses-"

"Gross," I muttered.

"I don't think they fit," Mikey pointed out, looking at his own thumbs.

"…is _pointless_!"

But as I looked over at Leo I saw a smirk had grown on his face.

"You sure about that, Raph?"

Raph's face fell. "He just showed up didn't he?"

We all looked down. The same white van from last night had just pulled up beside the building.

"I should've complained two hours ago," Raph mumbled irritably.

The door of the car opened and a man stepped out of the driver's side. It was a tall, scrawny-looking guy in jeans and a white tank-top. He didn't look like the clones from last night, but he was obviously working with them.

"Lady and gentlemen," Leo stated. "I have a bold and daring plan!"

I stared. _Really? You're gonna do this now?_

"There's no time for hesitation! My orders must be carried out without question."

Leo opened his eyes, but he stared when he saw that only I was standing next to him. While he had been ranting, the other three had already gone off.

"Guys? Guys, wait up!"

"Hey, at least I waited until you opened your eyes," I said, and I jumped down.

Within seconds we caught up with the others. We all surrounded the van slowly. The guy turned, and gasped when he saw us.

"Alright, buddy," said Raph. "We could do this the easy way, or- my vote- the _hard _way."

As he said this he withdrew his sais from his belt, and we all took out our weapons as well.

"We don't want any trouble," I said, and I opened my tessen. "But if you don't cooperate, we won't have any choice."

"Yeah, look at it logically; there're five of us, and one of you," Donnie chuckled. "What are you gonna do?"

The guy stood there for a moment. Then he drew out a strange looking gun and fired at us. We all yelped and jumped out of the way. I jumped and grabbed onto the railing of the fire escape, hanging there as I looked down. They guy grinned before jumping into his van and driving off.

"I was hoping he'd say 'nothing.'"

"You had to ask!" Raph snapped at Donnie.

We all jumped down from the fire escape and landed on the ground just as the van turned the corner.

"He's getting away again!" Donnie yelled.

"No, he's not," said Leo.

He then climbed up the nearest building to the rooftop, and we all followed close behind. We ran across the rooftops and jumped across buildings, keeping the van in our sights. Raph jumped down the fire escape and landed on the top of the van. He didn't stay on long though. Soon, the driver made a sharp turn, causing the van to swerve. Raph was thrown off and he smashed into the wall of a building.

"Raph!"

I jumped off the roof of the building, slid down the ladder of a fire escape, and ran over to him. Raph groaned as I grabbed him by the arms and helped him to his feet.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said gruffly.

I nodded. "C'mon, we gotta catch up to the others."

It took us only a few moments of running down the street for us to find the others. They were leaning against the wall of a building, obviously hiding.

"About time you two showed up," said Donnie.

"He got thrown into a building," I retorted.

"Shh!" Leo snapped.

I leaned forward a little and I could see smoke rising from the now wrecked van. It must've crashed while me and Raph were away. Leo kept his eyes on the van as he moved his arm back towards us, making weird hand signals with his hands. I didn't get the message though, and I stared in confusion.

"I- don't- know- what- that- means!" Raph hissed, making equally weird gestures with his hands on each word.

"Go around the back!" Leo said as though it were obvious.

"Why didn't he just say so?" Mikey wondered.

We did as Leo instructed, and surrounded the van We all moved cautiously towards the back of the vehicle, drawing our weapons, ready to fight if necessary. Empty boxes spilled out of the back. Raph reached up and opened the door that wasn't broken. When he did a large canister fell, rolled out on the street, and stopped directly at Mikey's feet.

It was a long, glass and metal canister filled with glowing, green ooze.

Mikey gasped. "_Mom?_"

* * *

><p><strong>See? SUPER LONG! So, you know the drill. Please leave a comment and tell me your opinion. You know how I love your opinions. See yah next time!<strong>


	7. Rise of the Ninjas: Part 2

**Hey guys! I got the next Ninja Turtles chapter for you. I hope you like it!**

* * *

><p>Ch. 2<br>Rise of the Ninjas: Part 2

"Whoa…" we all breathed in unison.

We all just stood there, staring in silence. None of us could really speak at first. All we could do was stare at the glowing canister as Donnie slowly picked it up in his hands. Leo was the to recover.

"So… is that the…?"

"Mutagen that turned us all into what we are now!" Donnie finished.

"Let's drink some!" said Mikey.

Donnie stared. "What?!"

"Mikey, are you crazy?" I asked.

"Why would you do that?" asked Raph.

Mikey grinned. "'Cause if you mutate a mutant, you get a _super mutant_!"

"Or a pile of goo on the sidewalk," Donnie said shortly.

"Either way, it's an improvement," said Raph.

"Guys, this is _huge_!" Leo piped in. "Whoever kidnapped those people are somehow connected to what happened to us 15 years ago."

"How is that possible?" ask Donnie.

"With alien robots, anything is possible," said Mikey.

I sighed. "Oh boy…"

"Stop that!" Donnie snapped. "There are no such things as alien robots!"

I heard a small groan, and I turned to see the driver of the van crawling out. Mikey saw me looking and turned to look at the guy.

"Oh yeah?"

Looking surprisingly confident, Mikey walked over to the driver and stood by him.

"Well, if there's no such thing as alien robots," he grabbed the guys head. "How do you explain _this_?"

Mikey then grabbed the guys jaw and started to pull at it. Loud cracking and popping noises sounded as the guy yelled, and I could help but wince a little.

"Ugh! Man, this mask is glued on tight!" Mikey grunted.

"Mikey, stop!" Leo said quickly. "It's not a mask!"

"Please, Mikey," I added. "This is painful even for me to watch."

Mikey paused and looked at the guy's face for a moment. Then he tossed him aside.

"Okay. He's in the clear. But those other guys were totally alien robots!"

"Enough!"

Raph snatched the canister from Donnie's grasp, holding it in his hand. Then he stomped over to the man and grabbed him by his shirt.

"Time to get some answers! Who are you, and what's goin' on?"

The man glared up at Raph. "Name's Snake. And I got nothin' ta say ta you hideous freaks, or your pretty friend there."

Snake nodded his head towards me. Needless to say, I wasn't flattered.

"Well, that's 'cause yah don't know us yet," said Raph.

"We can be very persuasive," I said slyly. "But I can't promise that my bro here will be nice about it."

Raph looked at me, a sly smirk on his face. "You know me real well, Nia."

Raph then tossed Snake out towards Donnie and Mikey. They caught the guy by his arms, keeping him down. Raph and I strode over to Snake as Raph started to twist the top off of the canister.

"See, we were just regular guys," Raph took the cap off. "Until we got hit with a little'a this."

"Wh-What're yah doin'?" Snake stuttered.

"Playing a little game I like to call, 'Mutation Roulette.' Now, you could turn out handsome, like me. Or, you might end up disgusting and deformed! Like Mikey, here."

"Hey!" Mikey snapped.

Raph grinned evilly. "So… yah feel lucky?"

He raised the canister above Snake, and started to tip it over. The green ooze slowly started to seep out, getting closer and closer to Snake's face. Then, when the goo was only an inch away from his face, Snake cried out.

"Okay! Okay!" he yelled, and Raph leveled the canister. "They call themselves the Kraang! They've been grabbin' scientists from all over the city!"

I folded my arms. _Well, at least we got him talking._

"Well, that worked pretty good," said Leo.

"Of course it did," said Raph. "Would you wanna look like Mikey?"

"I'm right here…" Mikey mumbled.

I rolled my eyes, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're adorable, Mikey. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Mikey grinned up at me.

"What do they want with scientists?" Leo asked Snake.

"I don't know."

Clearly that wasn't the answer they wanted. Raph lifted the canister up, shaking it threateningly.

"All I know is they're takin' them out of the city tonight!" Snake said quickly. "But I don't know where!"

I folded my arms and bent over to look at Snake's face. See, I had this thing where I could look somebody in the eye and know whether or not they were lying to me. Sensei called it another gift of my kunoichi training, I called it an awesome sixth sense. Either way, it was super helpful. And as long as I've had this gift, I've never been wrong.

Snake stared back at me questioningly as I looked at him, but he didn't say anything.

"…He's telling the truth," I told the others.

"This is _awesome_!" Donnie exclaimed suddenly, and I lifted my head to look at him. "That girl's dad is a scientist! _I'm _a scientist! _Oh, she is so gonna like me_!"

"I don't think you're her type," Snake said bluntly.

I made an irritated noise. _That's it. I officially hate this guy! _We all crowded around Snake, staring down at him.

"Where are they now?" Leo asked.

* * *

><p>It didn't take us long to find the facility Snake had told us about. We were all standing on the roof of a building opposite where the Kraang where. While we were there, Mikey was given the job of guarding Snake. He took the role just a little too seriously. Every time Snake even flinched Mikey would draw out his nunchucks, busting out some moves, trying to seem threatening. Though, to me, he looked like he was just being silly.<p>

I was standing at the ledge next to Leo, who was looking down at the facility with a telescope.

"Is it bad?" I asked him.

Leo removed the telescope form his face and handed it to me.

"See for yourself."

I took the telescope and put it up to my face. I looked all around the area, seeing Kraang all over the place.

"There's gotta be like…20 of them down there," said Leo.

"Yeah," Donnie agreed. "And that's just the one's we can see."

I removed the telescope from my face. "He's right," I said as I handed the scope back to Leo. "There's bound to be way more inside, and God knows how many."

"Alright!" Raph withdrew his sais, twirling them in his hands. "An all you can beat buffet!"

"We can't just rush in there!" Leo cut across him. "We need a plan."

"Why?"

"Think, you shellbrain!" Donnie snapped. "There are innocent lives at stake! If we screw this up they're all goners!"

"Then we won't screw it up," Raph said obviously.

"That's not the point, Raph," I said seriously. "We need to make sure that there's a way for us and the family to all get out of there. Alive!"

"Boy, I sure could got for some of that pizza right now, huh?"

I blinked, and we all turned to stare at Mikey. He stared back, looking confused.

"What? I can't be the only one that's hungry."

"Now's not the time to be thinking with your stomach, Mikey," I told him.

"Wait… Where's Snake?" Leo asked slowly.

Mikey gasped. We all turned around to look at the spot where Snake had been. Said person was now running across the roof.

"Oh, geez…"

"Get him!" Leo shouted.

We sprinted. I quickly followed all of the boys as they went down he fire escape. By the time my feet hit the ground Snake was already gone, and the boys went different ways. I made a quick choice and followed Raph and Leo one way, while Mikey and Donnie went the other way.

I had managed to catch up to Leo and Raph, and I was now leading them away. We were just passing an alley when suddenly, I heard movement. It was small, but it was enough for me to hear. I inhaled sharply and stopped running, holding my arms out.

"Wait!" I hissed.

Both of the boys stopped, not moving an inch past me.

"What is it?" Raph whispered.

"Shhh…"

I pointed a thumb to the dark alley where the noise had come from. Raph glanced over at the alley, then looked at me and nodded. I turned to Leo, giving him a look that said 'what now?' Leo grinned slightly.

"Oh, great! We let him get away!" Leo said loudly, and very obviously.

"Whoa, whoa, you're the leader!" Raph said, grinning. "That means, _you_ let him get away!"

"You're not helping," Leo hissed.

"I'm not trying to help."

"Now now, boys!" I said loudly, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. "There's no point in fighting over this! We have to come up with a plan! Leo?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. You want me to lead? Fine," he raised his voice once more. "We go back to the lair, gear up, and at midnight we drive Snake's van right up to the gate! They'll think we're him, and we'll cruise right in!"

"And then we bust some heads?" asked Raph.

"And then we bust some heads," Leo agreed.

Raph grinned. "I _love_ a happy ending!"

"So do I, Raph!" I said. "So do I!"

Keeping my hands on their shoulders, we turned and started to walk away.

"Do you think he bought it?" I whispered.

"Definitely," said Leo.

"Don't worry, Nia," Raph placed his hand on my back. "We got this sucker right were we want him."

* * *

><p>The only part of Leo's "plan" that was true was that we did go back to the lair. Once there, we all kind of went our separate ways. Donnie went off into his lab to work on something that was, as he told us, "important if our mission was to succeed." Leo had gone off into the dojo to think of a good strategy for getting into the facility. Mikey was… well, I didn't know where he was or what he was doing. He could've been taking a nap for all I knew, and he probably was. Raph had just gone into the kitchen without really saying a word. Since I didn't really have anything to do, I figured I'd go see what he was doing.<p>

I was standing outside the curtains that covered the kitchen when I heard his voice. I didn't know what he was saying at first, his voice was too quiet. I took a few steps forward and peeking through the curtains. Raph was leaning against the counter by the stove. In front of him was his pet turtle, Spike.

"I know you're a little worried about me. Look, I'm not gonna like to you. We've never gone into a fight like this and… I don't know what's gonna happen," Raph straightened up. "But you don't have to worry. I _will _make it back… I love you man…"

Spike took a bite out of his leaf, munching on it while he stared up at Raph. I giggled as I stepped out from behind the curtains.

"Aw, ain't that sweet?"

Raph gasped and whipped his head around. When he saw it was me he settled down, and frowned at me.

"Not cool, Nia."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said sweetly as I walked over to him. "You want me to leave so you love birds can keep building your nest in peace?"

Raph folded his arms, mumbling irritably. I chuckled as I placed my elbow on the counter, leaning my head in my hand.

"You're not funny," he grumbled.

"Oh, quit being a baby! There's nothing wrong with talking to your pet," I used two fingers to pet Spike's head. "Ain't that right, Spike?"

Spike looked up at me as I continued to pet him, and he appeared to be smiling.

"Aww…"

Me and Raph turned our heads. Mikey was sitting at the table, a sly grin on his face.

"Are you and Nia talking to your pet turtle?" he asked Raph.

Raph glared. "No… Shut up!"

Mikey's grin grew wider. "That _adorable_!"

"Oh, I'm gonna _crush you_!"

Mikey wasted no time before jumping out of his seat and sprinting away. Raph grabbed a wooden spoon, jumped over the table, and charged after his bro.

"I'm gonna slap you!"

"Ahh!"

I sighed and looked down at Spike. "What am I gonna do with those two?"

Again, the only response I got was Spike taking another bite out of his leaf. I shrugged, then reached out and picked the turtle up, letting him curl up in my arms. Unlike with the others, Raph trusted me and allowed me to hold his pet. I think it's mostly because a couple years ago, not long after Raph found him, I helped nurture Spike back to health when he got sic. Raph had trusted me with him ever since.

Still holding and petting Spike, I slowly walked into the dojo. Leo was kneeling in the middle of the floor, a few random object formed into shapes in front of him.

"What's up?"

Leo looked up at me for a moment, then looked back down. "I'm just trying to come up with a plan."

"Thought of anything good?"

"I think so…" Leo stared at his structure for a moment, then grinned. "I think this plan is gonna work."

"No plan ever survives contact with the enemy," said Splinter, who had just walked up to us. "It is how you react to the unexpected that will determine if you and your sibling succeed."

Leo stood up. "Sensei, do you think I'm ready for this?"

I turned to look at Leo confusingly. _He's not doubting himself, is he? _Sensei seemed to sense this, because eh put a comforting hand on Leo's shoulder.

"Leonardo, I made you leader for a reason."

"What is that reason?" Leo asked.

"That is for you to discover on your own."

"There's so much riding on this… What if something goes wrong?"

"Failure is a possibility that every leader must face, Leonardo," Splinter paused. "It is something I had to face in Japan, during my final battle with my enemy, the Shredder."

I froze as my breath caught in my throat. This was a story that we had all heard once before.

"Years ago, Oroku Saki, as Shredder was called then, had been my friend. But the love of a woman came between us. He could not accept it, and his jealously turned outward in a vengeful attack. And while he could not defeat me that day, my world fell and crumbled around me… as the battle took the life of my beloved Tang Shen… And I lost my baby daughter, Miwa…"

Sensei leaned against the bookshelf that held the photo of his family, his eyes closed. Spike started chewing on the strings of my hoodie, but I ignored him. All I could do was clutch the pet turtle in my arms as I thought about Sensei's sad tale.

"But that's my point, Sensei," Leo said, his voice filled with worry. "You lost everything…"

"I lost many things. My family, my home… my name…"

Leo turned his head away, not looking very assured.

"But I gains many things as well, like the four of you," Sensei smiled. "And years later, I also gained Lavinia, and I could not ask for better children."

Feeling comforted by his words, I smiled up at Sensei. I turned to Leo, and he had a confident grin on his face.

"Don't worry," he said. "We can handle this."

But at that moment we all heard Mikey yelling. I turned in time to see him running past, a pot on his head. Raph was following close behind, still waving a wooden spoon.

"Get back here!" he yelled.

Leo groaned slightly, and Sensei shook his head.

"Hang on," I sighed. "I got this."

I reached down and yanked the string Spike was gnawing on out of his mouth. Then I shoved the little turtle into Leo's arms.

"Don't let Raph see you holding Spike," I warned, and before he could say anything I ran off. "Raph, c'mon! Give Mikey a break!"

* * *

><p>Leo's genius plan was to rig Snake's van so that it would drive up to the building by itself. It would crash into the building, and when the Kraang were distracted we would climb up the wall of the building using the project Donnie had been working on. Turns out he was working on a bunch of Shoku. Otherwise known as ninja climbing claws.<p>

We all waited in the shadows for the van to show up. It did, and as planned, it crashed into the building. All the Kraang who were standing outside scattered. While they were distracted we ran up to the wall and started to climb.

"Dude, these things are awesome!" I told Donnie.

"Thanks!"

"Wow, lucky thing that van showed up to distract them," said Mikey.

Donnie's face fell as he groaned, and then face palmed. Only, he was still wearing his climbing claw.

"Ow!"

"That was the plan, Mikey!" Leo whispered. "We knew Snake was hiding in the alley, so Raph, Nia and I made him think we would be in the van."

Mikey still looked confused. "But, we weren't in the van…"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Just keep climbing!"

"Can do!"

We were able to get all the way to the roof without any issues. Once there we pried off the cover of a ventilation shaft, which led right into the building. There were two Kraang dudes right underneath. Leo and Raph both jumped down and pounded the guys into the ground. After the guys were knocked out, me, Mikey and Donnie all jumped down. One look around the place, and I instantly felt like I was in a Si-Fi movie or something. The walls were made of silver metal, and there were glowing pink energy lines and lights everywhere.

"Wow," Donnie breathed. "I've never seen anything like this! They're using a metal alloy that… I don't even recognize!"

"Gosh! A metal alloy that even _you_ don't know about!" Raph said sarcastically. "It boggles the mind!"

Donnie glared at him. "Dude, you wanna talk metallurgy with me? Bring it."

"I don't. And-"

"You're really gonna have this argument now?" I hissed at them.

"Guys!" Leo snapped. "What part of 'being in an enemy lair' do you not understand?"

Leo turned and continued on. We all followed without complaints. As we turned the corner we stayed against the wall. We all leaned our heads out slightly to see if anything was there. I gasped slightly. There weren't any humans standing there. Instead there were several silver and several blue robots.

"No way…" I breathed.

"Whoa, alien robots!" Donnie whispered.

"Alien robots, huh?" Mikey muttered, irritation clear in his voice. "Hm… Where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah! I've been saying it FOR HOURS!"

I winced slightly at his loud voice, but the sound of gunfire made me stand up. We all scattered, trying not to get hit. I took my tessen out as Raph jumped next to me.

"Hey, Raph!" I shouted. "You know what this means?"

"What?"

I grinned as I opened my tessen. "Since they're robots, you can stab them all you want."

He blinked, and a wide grin spread across his face.

"Heck yeah!"

I ran up towards the robot nearest me and brought my tessen down on the arm that was holding the gun. I kicked the robot in its chest, sending it flying backwards. I turned as two blue robots started firing at me. My eyes narrowed. I threw my tessen as hard as I could, and it embedded itself in the head of one of the robots. Sparks flew out as the robot thudded to the floor. I leapt forward, kicking my leg out so it would meet with the robot's face. I pinned the robot to the ground, grabbed my tessen from the previous robots head, and sliced it through the other one's face.

I stood up and turned. My bros had taken care of the other robots. Leo just sliced the last one with his katana. We all slowly surrounded the downed robot. Suddenly, the pink, brain-looking thing in the center of the robot's chest shifted. Then a pair of yellow eyes opened. Several long tentacles shot up and started wiggling in the air. We all screamed as the brain pulled itself out of the robot body, screeching at us. I yelped as I grabbed onto Leo's arm.

"What the bloody hell is that?!"

Suddenly Mikey came up, lifted his nunchuck, and smashed it against the little brain's head. The thing slumped over and closed its eyes. It was knocked out. I stared with wide eyes and Mikey grabbed the thing by its tentacles, lifting it into the air.

"See? _See? _It's a brain thing!" he yelled. "I told you! I _told _you! But did any of you believe me? No! 'Cause you all think I'm just some kind of _bonehead_!"

Before any of us could say anything, the brain thing suddenly reopened its eyes and let out a loud squeal. Then it reached up and latched its sharp teeth onto Mikey's arm.

"Ow!"

Mikey lifted his arm up as the brain thing gnawed on his arm. He shook his arm viciously, desperate for the creature to get off. Mikey thrashed his arm for just a few more seconds before the alien thing flew off and smashed against the wall. Unfortunately it also hit a large button on the wall, which caused a really big, really loud alarm to go off.

"_Mikey!" _the boys snapped.

Mikey turned to look a the four of us, and to see his three older brothers glaring at him.

"Okay! But I was still right about the brain thing!" he said defensively. "You gotta give me that!"

I turned to Leo. "Any ideas, chief?"

"Let's move!" he said.

"Move where?" said Raph.

I turned to look at Donnie, but he appeared to be looking up at the ceiling.

"I think those are power conduits," he said curiously.

"Oh! That's really interesting!" Raph snapped. "Thanks for sharing, Donnie!"

Donnie snapped his head to his older brother. "Meathead, the conduits are all converging _that _way…" he pointed down the hall. "Which means that whatever is happening in that direction is _important_!"

Donnie turned and walked down the hall. Leo grinned, then gestured down the hall with his katana, indicating that we were to follow. Leo started to walk off, and I cleared my throat.

"I think we better follow them," I muttered to Raph.

Just then Mikey came up and pointed at Raph's face.

"You got _spanked_," he said, and then laughed.

Raph glared at the younger turtle before grabbing the finger in a death grip.

"Ow! _Ow! Mercy!_" Mikey cried.

Raph released him, still looking irritated. He walked off as Mikey sucked on his finger.

"Not cool!"

"C'mon, Mikey," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We gotta move."

We instantly quickened our pace. I wasn't sure what we were heading for, but I was prepared for whatever we'd run into. We continued running until Donnie suddenly doubled back.

"We found them!" he called out.

"You pick the lock! We'll hold them off!" said Leo.

Donnie kneeled down next to a security lock as I ran up to the door. I looked through the tiny window and saw the redheaded family inside.

"Phew, that was lucky," I said.

"Oh, thank God," the girl sighed. "Another human."

"Yeah, don't worry," I told her. "Me and my bros are gonna get you both out of here. Are either of you hurt?"

"No, we're fine," the man said. "A little shaken, but fine."

"Good," I smiled. "I'm Nia, by the way."

The girl grinned. "Nice to meet you."

"Don't worry!" Donnie said. "We'll have you out of there in a second!"

"Okay… giant, lizard thing…" the girl said slowly.

I raised my eyebrow. "Really?"

"Turtle, actually. I'm Donatello."

"April," the girl said.

Donnie grinned. "Wow, that's a pretty-"

Suddenly Leo was thrown back against Donnie, causing said turtle to smash his face against the window of the cell.

"The _lock_, Donnie!" Leo snapped.

"Oh yeah! Right, sorry!"

He knelt back down, removed the cover of the lock system, and started messing with the wires. I turned around as a couple of Kraang started to come up. They started firing and I charged at them. I swung my tessen up at one of them, slicing some of the wiring in its neck section. Sparks shot out as I reared around and kicked the robot in the head, sending it flying back. Another robot came up and grabbed my wrist. I brought my elbow down on the crook of the robotic arm, elbowed the robots face, and kneed it in the chest. As it stumbled back I ran up to it and swung my tessen upward, slicing through the robot's face.

"Not to rush you, but… hurry up!" said April.

"Hey! You think it's easy trying to pick a lock with _these _hands?" Donnie said, waving his hands up.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly.

At that moment Raph came up and kicked away a Kraang that was heading for us. Then he stalked over to Donnie.

"Oh, for the love 'a… Get out of my way!"

Raph grabbed Donnie and shoved him away. I stared at him as he took one of his sais and started stabbing the lock repeatedly. After a moment the cell door finally opened. We looked inside and saw that a door on the other side was opened too, and the family was being dragged off once again.

"Are you kidding me?" I said irritably.

We all ran through the cell and turned the corner following the robots as they took the family to an exit. We all burst through the double doors.

"Get the door!" said Leo.

Raph went to shut the door just as a robot came up and tried to shove its way through. It reached out for Raph, who backed up. Raph growled, then he grabbed the robotic arm and brought his elbow down on it hard. He kicked the robot back inside, which caused it to be separated from its arm. Raph slammed the door shut, and shoved the severed arm through the door handles, locking them in place.

"That'll hold them!"

Raph turned to face us. We were all staring at him, eyebrows raised. Raph shrugged.

"What?"

"You," Leo stated. "Are seriously twisted."

"Thanks."

"I don't think that was supposed to be a compliment, dude," I told him.

"No! Let me go!"

April's creams brought us back to our senses. We turned and looked up at the roof in time to see April and her father being led into a helicopter.

"Let's get 'em!" Leo shouted.

But we had barley ran more than a few feet before a huge vine-looking thing with thorns dropped down in front of us. As they rose in the air my gaze fell on the creature before us. It was huge! It had a body like a tree trunk, green and molded weirdly. It had two thorny vines for arms and the ends of both vines had jaws made of leaves. If I had to describe the face, I'd say it looked kind of like a praying mantis, except way uglier.

It was a very large, clearly pissed off mutant weed.

"Uh-oh…" Mikey muttered.

The mutant reared its large, ugly head back, letting out a loud shriek.

"You did this to me!" it snarled at us. "Now you're going to pay!"

"Any ideas on who or what this is?" I asked the others, hoping one of them could answer.

"It's Snake!" Leo exclaimed. "He mutated into a… giant weed!"

Snake squalled, clapping his leafy hands like Venus Flytraps.

"That's weird," said Mikey. "You'd think he'd get mutated into a snake."

"Yeah, you would. If you were an _idiot_!" Raph snapped at his little brother.

"But his name is _Snake_," Mikey said as though he were explaining something serious.

Raph raised his brows. "So?"

"You don't understand science."

I opened my mouth to comment when there was a loud crackling noise. The lower half of snake's trunk-like body suddenly split in two and broke free from the ground. I gasped, taking a few steps back.

"I'll crush you turtles!" he shrieked, and he glanced at me. "I'll crush all of you!"

I gulped. "Heh... Guess that includes me too, huh?" I muttered.

Donnie cleared his throat. "Uh… would it help if we say it was an accident?"

Snake pulled his other foot from the ground and leaned towards them.

"So!" Donnie gripped his Bo staff. "I'll put you down for a 'no'?"

Snake let out a horse yell and swung his vine towards us. I managed to leap out of the way, but Mikey and Raph got knocked down.

"That is a definite 'no'!" I shouted.

Leo leapt forward a he raised his katana, and sliced off the vine. Snake squalled painfully, flapping his arm around as what looked like purple blood started spraying and spurting everywhere. Mikey yelped as he pushed himself back, desperate not to let the junk get on him.

"Ew! _Eww!_ Don't let it touch me! _Don't let it touch me!_" he screamed as a tiny dollop of blood fell on his leg. "Ahh!_ It touched me!_"

Then the vine Leo cut started straining outward. It was growing back! Snake grinned, clapping his leafy hand again.

"It grew back!" Donnie frowned. "No fair!"

Suddenly the whirl of a helicopter reached our ears. We looked up and saw the helicopter the family was forced into was starting to get into the air.

"Donnie! Go!" Leo shouted.

Donnie's eye narrowed as he sheathed his Bo staff. He ran towards Leo, who was crouched down slightly. Donnie jumped, and Leo used his hands to help launch him into the air. Donnie flipped up and landed by the chopper pad.

"I hope you have a plan, Leo!" I yelled.

"I'm working on it!"

Snake swung his vines at us, and we scattered. Looking frantic, Mikey took the bade of his kusarigama and started slicing the oncoming vines. But he was soon knocked aside just a few moments later. Leo stepped up and started slicing everything that came anywhere near him. But like Mikey, he was pushed aside, too. I charged forward, darting from left to right to avoid the dangerous vines. I jumped up and flung my tessen forward, aiming for Snake's face. He lifted one of his vines to block it, but the fan sliced through it with ease. Snake squealed more. I raised my hand as my tessen started to spin back towards me, and caught it.

"Nia, watch out!" Mikey yelled.

I looked up to see one of Snake's vine had started to creep up on me. I wasn't fast enough though, and he tripped me and then pushed me back several feet. I landed on the ground and rolled a few times before coming to a stop, laying on my side. Suddenly, Snake took Raph and threw him down at us, but Leo and Mikey managed to catch him. I stood up as we all stared at Snake.

"Snakeweed is really powerful!" Mikey shouted.

"Snakeweed?" me and Raph said in unison.

"Yeah! His name was Snake, and now he's a weed, so…"

"We get it!" Raph snapped.

"We just have to hold it off until Donnie gets back!" said Leo.

There was a loud _bam _from behind us. We all turned and saw the Kraang had suddenly burst open, and several robots spilled out.

"While not getting shot by alien robots," Leo finished.

"With brains!" Mikey added.

"Let it go, man," said Raph.

Snakeweed squealed again, and I could hear the Kraang wiring their guns. I crouched down slightly, holding my tessen up in a defensive stance.

"Raph! Nia! You guys handle Snakeweed!" said Leo. "Me and Mikey will handle the robots!"

I nodded, and turned to face Snakeweed. Raph jumped up and punched him a few times in the face. Snakeweed shot his vines at him, but Raph sliced them with his sai. I ran up to one of his tree-trunk legs and ran up it. I jumped up, and shot down towards Snakeweeds face, aiming my tessen at him. There was a _slash _as I felt my tessen come into contact with the weed's face. He squealed in pain, and I landed on the ground with ease. I turned to look up at him, and I saw a long gash between his eyes.

"Nice one, Nia!" shouted Raph.

Suddenly the Kraang came up and started firing their weapons at us. We jumped out of the way, leaving Snakeweed in the line of fire. He was shot several times, and squalled. He used one of his long vines to knock down the Kraang, and then knocked us down, too.

"What's the plan again, Chief?" Raph asked Leo sarcastically.

"I'm working on it!"

Then one of Snakeweeds vines came down and grabbed onto Leo. It pulled him up so he was hanging in the air by his ankle. Snakeweed thrashed him around a bit, but Leo's gaze seemed to be elsewhere.

"The power conduits!" he exclaimed.

"Are we really gonna start talking about that again?" Raph snapped.

Leo didn't answer as he was thrashed around more. But there was something in the look on his face that suggested that he had something going on in his head.

"Raph! Mikey! Nia!" Leo shouted.

We looked up at him as he placed the end of one of his katanas in his mouth. Then he used his free hand to make several odd hand gestures. I recognized them as the gestures from earlier. _Leo, you clever boy. _We all nodded, and then charged towards Snakeweed. We went around behind him just as Leo sliced off the vine that was holding him. Snakeweed turned to face me, Raph and Mikey. He waved and snapped his vines at us, trying to grab us. But we simply flipped out of the way. One vine tried to grab my let, but I snap-kicked it and did a back flip to keep my distance. Mikey and Raph flipped until they were next to me. We all turned to see the Kraang standing behind us, guns pointed at us. The boys made some funny faces and noises, taunting the robots. I smirked as I blue a raspberry, waving my hands in the air.

The robots began firing, and me and the boys scattered out of the way. I did a few more back flips to make sure I had some distance before I stopped.

"Nia!"

I turned around to see Donnie standing right behind me. Next to him was the girl, April.

"Oh, thank God," I sighed. "Are you alright?"

"We're okay," said Donnie.

I looked at April, who nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

I nodded, and turned around to see what else was going on. That's when I saw Leo standing on power conduit. He reached from behind him, and pulled out two throwing stars. He threw them at Snakeweed, who grunted, and turned to face the blue-banded turtle.

"Hey, come and get me, Stink-weed!" Leo jeered, sticking his tongue out at said mutant.

Snakeweed squealed and lunged forward at Leo. But said turtle simply jumped and landed on Snakeweed's back. Leo laughed tauntingly at the Kraang, his tongue hanging out, smacking the back of his shell at them. The Kraang fired their weapons right at him. Leo did a back flip off of Snakeweed's back and ran out of the way. The Kraang continued to fire repeatedly at Snakeweed, but ended up hitting the power conduits instead. A few seconds later Snakeweed, who was still touching the power conduit, reared his head back and screeched in pain. He looked like he was being electrocuted with pink electricity. After a few moments the thing exploded in a mash of pink fire and smoke. I glanced up in the air, and tiny bits and pieces of Snakeweed's body started falling around us, including some more weird purple blood.

"That," I stated. "Is disgusting."

Raph turned to face me. "C'mon. We gotta go."

I nodded. I looked around once to make sure that my bros and April were all right, and then we all ran for the exit.

* * *

><p>The first thing we did was take April to her aunt's apartment. She was very grateful to us, but she was still very upset. Donnie had managed to save her without problem, but there was nothing he could do to save her father. The guys were all standing on the fire escape, I was sitting on the railing, and April was sitting on her window ledge.<p>

"Are you gonna be alright?" Donnie asked her.

April shrugged. "I guess. My aunt says I can stay here as long as I want," she hugged her knees tightly. "But I'll be a lot better when I track down the creeps that took my dad."

"Won't the police help?" asked Leo.

"Funny thing," April chuckled dryly. "When you tell them your dad was kidnapped by alien brains in robot bodies, they don't take you all that seriously."

Mikey nodded. "I hear that."

"April," Donnie piped up. "I promise you, we will not rest until we find him."

Raph blinked. "We won't?"

Leo nudged his arm and I pushed his shoulder.

"No, we won't," said Leo.

"We'll do everything we can to bring him back to you," I told her.

"Thank you," said April. "But it's not your fight."

April looked down at her feet, a serious expression on her face. Then Donnie reached over and placed his hand over her own.

"Yes, it is," he stated.

April blinked, startled by the intimate gesture. But then she looked up at Donnie, and smiled at him. Donnie yanked his hand back, his green cheeks looking rather pink. Then he grinned sheepishly and backed away. The others all started to climb up to the rooftop. Donnie got up there last. He turned back to look at April, and grinned as he waved at her. April waved back, and Donnie grinned more.

"C'mon, Nia," he said as he turned.

"Comin'!" I turned to April. "So, I assume we'll be seeing you again?"

April nodded. "Definitely."

"Awesome! Little warning, though. My bros can be pretty… funny sometimes. But once you get to know them, you'll love them."

She chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind."

I smiled. Waving my hand slightly, I turned and followed my brothers to the rooftops.

* * *

><p>As soon as we got home the boys went off to do their own thing. Donnie, Raph and Mikey were watching TV, and Leo was in the dojo with Sensei. Feeling a little board, I decided to go see what Leo was up to. What I didn't expect was to see him having a conversation with Splinter.<p>

"I am impressed, Leonardo. You proved to be an effective leader under the most difficult of circumstances."

I smiled as I put my hands in my pockets and I leaned against the wall.

"Thank you, Sensei," said Leo. "And I think I've figured out why you made me leader."

"Oh? Why is that?" Sensei asked curiously.

"Because you sensed inside me a true, warrior spirit that would forge us all into the heroes we are destined to become!" Leo said very dramatically.

"No."

I blinked. _Well, this oughta be good._

"No? Then why did you make me leader?"

"Because… You asked."

My jaw fell as I stared at Sensei. _Really? That's why?_

"That's it?!" Leo exclaimed. "But, you seemed so certain you were right."

"As a leader, you will learn that there is no right and wrong. Only choices."

"So, you could've chosen _any_ of us?"

"Yes."

"Even _Mikey_?!"

"No!" Sensei laughed. "That would have been wrong."

I sighed, face-palming.

"Is something wrong, Lavinia?"

I opened my eyes to see Sensei and Leo both looking at me.

"Sometimes your advise can be just a little confusing, Sensei," I admitted. "No offense."

"But that is why I tell you those things now, Lavinia," Sensei walked towards me. "I tell you all that you must know now so that when you are older, you will have gained the knowledge to understand what I have taught you."

I bit my lip for a moment. "Okay… now that I understood."

Sensei chuckled.

"_Everybody_!" I heard Mikey yell. "Come here! We made the news!"

"What?" I gasped.

I spun on my heel and sprinted towards the living room. I stood behind the couch as I looked at the TV.

"_A report of- get this- _ninjas _in New York! Don't believe me? After residents reported a disturbance, the police recovered this."_

An image of a throwing star with our insignia on it appeared on the screen.

"Oh, crap…" I mumbled.

"_For Channel 6 News, this is Carlos Chiang O'Brien Gambe saying, "Hai-ya!"_

"This is _awesome_!" Mikey said happily. "We're gonna be _famous_!"

"I'm pretty sure that's bad, Mikey," I told him.

"Lavinia is right," Sensei said firmly. "You must be more careful. A ninja's most powerful weapon is the shadows. Being brought out into the light is a dangerous thing."

"Relax, Sensei," said Raph. "It's just one little news story. What's the worst that could happen?"

Sensei shook his head. I sighed. Maybe Raph was right. I mean, it was just a little throwing star. No one could make anything out of that, right?

"Well, I don't know about you guys," I said. "It's late, and now I'm hungry."

"So am I!" Mikey piped up. "I've had some serious munchies all night!"

Mikey did a back flip and landed in front of me. Then he turned around and crouched down slightly. I laughed before running up and jumping onto his shell. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he grabbed onto my legs.

"To the kitchen, Michelangelo!" I jeered. "There are snacks to be had!"

"Aw yeah!"

We both laughed as Mikey charged, giving me a piggyback ride to the kitchen. I heard the boys laughing from behind me, and I could've sworn I heard Sensei mumbled something that sounded like, "teenagers."

* * *

><p><strong>Aw, a nice happy ending for a chapter. If only they knew what was coming... But! We'll just have to wait to read about that, won't we? I hope you liked this chapter. Please leave a review about how much you liked it, hated it, or whatever. I love it when you leave reviews. Bye!<strong>


	8. Turtle Temper

Ch. 3  
>Turtle Temper<p>

I'm bored. I just want to get that out there right now. I know it's pretty blunt, but it's a fact. I mean, without my playing cards to occupy myself, stakeouts can get pretty boring. Because that's what we were currently doing. We had been staking out the building of a lab that- thanks to April's knowledge- we knew the Kraang were going to break into. Leo figured the aliens were going to make for it eventually, so he planned a stakeout for it.

Both Leo and Donnie were standing by the edge of the building, looking down at the facility that held the lab. Donnie was peering through a spyglass, and Leo was observing with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Anything?" he asked.

"Nothing yet," said Donnie.

I sighed. _Geez, it's been an hour! When are the Kraang gonna show up? _I stuck my hands into the pockets of my hoodie and turned to face the other two. Raph was sitting cross-legged on the ground with his shell against the wall of a building block, his arms folded, and he appeared to be half asleep. Mikey was laying on top the block with his stomach down, a mischievous look on his face. He then reached his hand down, and poked the top of Raph's head. Raph swatted his hand away, and Mikey chuckled. He tapped a second time, and Raph swatted his hand again. Still somehow amused, Mikey went for a third tap. But before he could even touch his brother's head, Raph reached up and grabbed onto Mikey's finger. I hissed slightly when I heard a small _crack_, and Mikey yelped. Raph released his hold, glaring up at Mikey. The younger turtle whimpered slightly as he stuck his sore finger into his own mouth. I sighed.

"Must you always hurt the poor boy?" I asked Raph.

"He was asking for it," he grumbled.

"Guys!" Leo hissed, and we all turned to see him glaring at us. "When ninjas are on surveillance, they are suppose to be _silent_!"

I nodded. "Sure thing, dude."

"Sorry, Leo," said Mikey. "I'll scream quieter."

Mikey looked back down at Raph, a smile reappearing on his face. He lifted his hand up, and started to bring his finger closer and closer to Raph's head.

"Mikey…" I hissed warningly.

But it was no use. Before I could say more, Mikey had poked Raph's head, and giggled like an excited schoolboy. Raph's eyes snapped open as he let out a low growl. _And Raph snaps in 3...2...1... _Raph reached up, grabbed Mikey's wrist, and tossed him down onto the ground. Raph jumped over to him, wrapped an arm around Mikey's neck, and stood up, keeping the younger turtle in a headlock.

"Say it," said Raph.

"Raph! Be quiet!" Leo snapped.

"Not 'til Mikey says it!"

Mikey struggled to break free of his brother's grasp, but failed miserably. He sighed, letting his arms go limp.

"Raphael is all wise and powerful," he grumbled irritably, rolling his eyes.

Raph released him. But barely a second later he grabbed Mikey again and twisted his head a bit.

"And…?"

"And he's better than me in every possible way!" Mikey said, struggling again.

Raph released him again, and Mikey gasped for air. Then Raph raised his elbow up and brought it down on Mikey's shell, sending said turtle to the ground.

"Raph!" I hissed.

Raph ignored me and kneeled down, keeping his brother pinned.

"And…?"

"And I'm a lowly worm beneath his feet who isn't fit to live on the same planet as him because he's so amazing and I'm a dirt clod!"

Mikey said all of this really fast and breathlessly. Raph then licked his finger and held it over Mikey's head. He grinned evilly as Mikey stared up at the finger, his big blue eyes going wide.

"_And…?_"

Mikey's lip trembled. "In the history of the universe, there's never been-!"

"Okay, _enough_!" Leo snapped, sounding very irritated.

Raph looked up to glare at Leo. He released his hold on Mikey, who gasped, looking deflated. Raph stood up and marched over to Leo.

"We're wasting our time!" he said. "The Kraang aren't gonna show up!"

Leo just looked at him. "Have a little patience, will you?"

"No offense Leo, but I think I'm with Raph on this one," I said as I walked up to them. "I mean, we've been out here for God knows how long, so I think we can assume that nothing's gonna happen tonight."

"Just have faith, Nia," Leo said wisely. "And patience. It's bad enough with Raph having problems with waiting."

"I'm not that bad!" Raph snapped. "I'm just sick of sitting up here doing nothing!"

"Trust me, guys. Their gonna break into that lab tonight," Donnie placed a hand on his chest, looking confident. "I have reliable intel."

"Intel?" Raph smirked. "You mean, _April _told you."

I raised my eyebrow as I grinned over at Donnie. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was _April_ who told _you _they were gonna be here."

"April?" Mikey grinned like a Cheshire cat. "You mean his _girlfriend_?"

I had to bite my lip to keep myself from giggling as I looked over at Donnie. I swear, if looks could kill, Mikey wouldn't be breathing right now. I could almost see steam floating off Donnie's head.

"She's not my girlfriend, _Mikey_!" he snapped, but me and the other turtles exchanged grins. "She's a girl, who's a friend, whose dad got kidnapped by the same guys who are gonna break into that lab, and we're gonna stop them!"

"Or we'll sit out on a cold roof all night for _no reason_," Raph said bluntly.

I opened my mouth to respond, but I was interrupted by the sound of the rooftop door creaking.

"What the heck's goin' on up here?"

I froze and turned my head. Standing there was the ugliest man I had ever seen. He appeared to be in his 50's, bald, and had a beer belly so huge that it poked out from underneath his stained tank-top.

"What are yah, playin' dress up?" he asked.

"No, sir…" Leo said nervously. "We were just-"

But the man wasn't paying attention. He appeared to be looking at something on the ground. I glanced behind us, and saw there was a broken satellite dish. _Erm… that wasn't our fault, was it?_

"You! Snowcap!" the man snapped, and I turned to see the man pointing a finger at me. "Which one of your slimy, green ham shanks busted my satellite dish?!"

"Snowcap?" I snapped.

"_Ham shanks?!_" Raph shouted angrily.

"I don't even know what that means…" said Donnie.

"Me neither," said Raph. "But I don't like it!"

Raph reached towards his belt for his sai, but Leo stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

"Let's go," he said firmly.

He let go of Raph's wrist and started to walk away, and Donnie and Mikey followed. I turned back to face the man.

"For the record, my hair's not white," I pointed up at my head. "It's platinum blonde. There's a difference!"

The man folded his arms, a smirk growing on his face. I rolled my eyes as I turned to Raph, who was still glaring at the human.

"Raph, c'mon," I put a hand on his shoulder. "We don't need any of this crap. Let's just leave."

Raph huffed, then turned away.

"That's right, yah spineless creampuff!" the man taunted loudly. "Listen to your _girlfriend_!"

I blinked and whipped my head around. "Girlfriend?"

"Hey!" Raph took out his sais. "Watch it, buddy!"

The man mimicked being frightened. "Oh, no! I didn't know you had _salad tongs_!"

"_Salad tongs?!_"

"Oh, Jesus!" I cried.

Just as Raph started to charge forward my brothers grabbed him. Leo and Mikey held onto his arms, and Donnie held onto the back of his shell. I stood in front of Raph and put my hands on his shoulders, pushing him back.

"Raph, don't!" I told him.

"I'm not gonna take this from some greasy, pit-stained slob in a comb-over!" Raph snapped.

"You callin' me ugly? Seen a mirror lately, circus freak?"

Raph bared his teeth. "Nia. Move," he growled.

"No!" I snapped. "He's just getting under your shell, Raph! Leave it be!"

Raph wasn't listening, and was still trying to move forward, despite the effort his brothers were giving to keep him back. I groaned irritably as I pushed him back with all my might.

"It's… not… worth it…!" I grunted loudly as I pushed against him.

"You want a piece of me?"

"Will you shut it!" I snapped at the human.

Raph growled once more, his eyes blazing with fire. "When I'm done, a _piece _of you is all that's gonna be _left_!"

With one final push and one final pull, me and the guys were finally able to move him back. Good thing, too. Because at that exact moment a pink laser shot out right where Raph had been staring. I straightened up before turning around. There were several Kraang robots standing on the opposite side of the rooftop.

"Kraang-droids!" Leo cried.

"Holy talido!" the human said in surprise.

I groaned. "Can this night get any worse?"

"Way to blow our position, Raph," Leo said irritably.

We all drew our weapons out in a second. This time, instead of my tessen, I decided to pull out my kamas. I wanted to see how well they worked with these Kraang jerks. The Kraang-droids aimed their guns at us, and started firing.

"Scram!" Leo ordered.

We did as we were told. After that I charged towards the robots, my kamas held at the ready. I jumped left and right to avoid fire as I jumped at the robot closest to me. I used my right kama to push its gun up and out of the way, and I used my left one to slice through its chest. I then raised both of them up and brought them down, slicing through the dude's arms. Sparks flew as I kicked him back, causing him to bump into another robot, and they both fell.

Surprisingly, that's all I needed to do. The Kraang all stood up and then ran off before me or my bros could do anything.

"Keep going, Kung Fu frogs!" I heard the man shout. "This is pure gold!"

I whipped my head around. The man was sitting in the doorway, a grin on his face, and a phone in his hand.

"We're not _frogs_, you idiot!" Raph snapped.

"Yeah, seriously?" I said. "When's the last time you saw a frog with a shell?"

"And it's not _Kung Fu_!" Donnie corrected irritably. "It's an ancient Japanese battle art!"

"Guys!" Leo hissed, sounding nervous. "He got us on _video_!"

Raph bared his teeth and growled with rage. "Not for long he doesn't!"

Raph suddenly charged, running for the man. But just as Raph jumped to grab him, the human ran inside and shut the door. Raph's face smashed into the door, and he slid down onto the floor. From the other side I could hear the man laughing.

"I'm gonna make a fortune off of this!" he said.

Raph sat up, his head tipping and his eyes spinning for a second. Then he shook his head and went back to normal. I opened my mouth to ask if he was okay, but as I did I heard the sound of sirens in the distance.

"Fire trucks, on route! Thirty seconds!" said Donnie.

"Then let's move," said Leo.

"Wait!" Raph snapped. "We have to find that guy and break his phone! And his _face_!"

But even as he ranted, the others had already started running off. Raph stared after them, looking surprised.

"Raph, c'mon!" I urged him. "We gotta go now!"

Raph looked at the door, looked at the ground, and grunted irritably as he threw his arms down. We both turned and followed our brothers to safety.

_Swoosh!_

I inhaled sharply as I heard a soft noise amongst the loud sirens. I whipped my head around to look at the rooftop, but there was nothing there. The roof was empty, but I could've sworn I heard something.

"Nia, what is it?" I heard Raph ask.

"I… don't know…" I shook my head. "I just thought I heard something. Other than sirens, I mean."

"Raph! Nia! C'mon!" I heard Leo shout at us.

Raph looked at me for a second before turning on his heel and running off. I sighed as I followed him. _Oh, man… _I thought to myself. _Sensei is gonna be so pissed about this…_

* * *

><p>"Not only did Raphael alert the Kraang, but you got caught… on <em>video<em>!"

I gulped as is shifted in my seat between Mikey and Donnie. _Yep. He is totally pissed._

"Sensei!" Raph said defensively. "He was the angriest, nastiest guy you've ever met!"

"Except for you," Mikey said, smirking.

Raph glared and smacked Mikey's head. Mikey yelped. Then he whimpered as he rested his head on my shoulder, and I rubbed it affectionately. Raph continued talking to Sensei.

"You should've heard the insults this guy was throwing at us! They were so…"

"Insulting?" I asked as I continued to rub Mikey's head.

"Yes!" Raph agreed.

"Oh! I did not realize he said _mean things_," Sensei said sarcastically. "Of course! You had no choice but to _jeopardize your mission_!"

"Burn," Mikey whispered.

Raph glared and turned to face him, but Mikey clung onto me for dear life, as though I were a shield to Raph's rage.

"You are _ninjas_," Sensei said firmly as he paced in front of us. "You work in the shadows- in secret. This becomes difficult if there is proof of your existence in _high definition_!"

"Look," Raph continued. "We know where this guy lives. All we have to do is find him, and shake him until the tape pops out."

"Oh, there's no tape," Donnie piped up. "Video cameras use a flash memory and-"

But he was cut off as Raph started growling again, an intense glare on his face.

"Geez, Raph, calm down," I told him. "You'll just make things worse."

"Lavinia is right," said Splinter. "Anger is self-destructive."

Raph glanced down at the floor, and muttered, "I always thought it was _others _destructive."

"Raphael!" Sensei said sharply. "Stand up."

I couldn't help but cringe slightly at the tone of Splinter's voice. _Oh boy, now he's in _real _trouble. _Raph looked a little uneasy as he slowly stood up on his feet.

"Somebody's in trouble," Mikey sang sweetly.

* * *

><p>We were now in the dojo, no doubt for Raph's punishment. Raph stood in the middle of the room, and we were all circling him. We were each holding a bow and arrow, holding the strings back, ready to fire. Instead of arrowheads, the arrows had little suction cups on the ends of them. I had no idea what our Sensei was up to, but I hope it's worth it.<p>

"Evade the arrows," Sensei told Raph, who grinned.

"No problem!"

"Hajime!"

Mikey shot his arrow, and Raph dodged it easily. Leo shot next, but the arrow barley touched Raph's shoulder. I shot next, aiming for his shell. But he jumped up and let it go under him. Donnie shot next, but Raph did a back flip, withdrawing his sais from his belt, and landed back on the ground. Splinter caught the arrow that was coming for him between his two fingers.

"Yame!"

We all stood at attention, waiting for orders.

"Again!" said Splinter. "Except this time, Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Lavinia… insult Raphael."

I blinked. "Sensei…?" I said unsurely.

"Wait," said Donnie. "Insult…_him_?"

"Yes," said Sensei.

"And he can't fight back?"

"No."

Donnie chuckled. "I'm feeling good about this plan."

"Hajime!"

At the same moment, me and the boys began circling our brother. _Oh boy, _I thought. _Now what? I don't wanna insult Raph._ The others seemed to be having different feelings towards this situation, however. Mikey's sinister laugh proved that.

"You move like a bloated buffalo!" he said.

Mikey fired his arrow, but Raph did a split as it soared above his head.

"I do _not_!"

"And you're always whining," Leo said, mimicking a sad voice. "Poor me! Nobody understands me!"

"Well, you don't understa-"

_Smack!_ Leo's arrow stuck to the back of Raph's shell. I sighed. _Alright, let's get this over with…_

"And you're always _so _grumpy!" I taunted. "It's like you're the freakin' Prince of Darkness."

Raph turned to stare at me just as I shot my arrow. It struck him, sticking to his upper plastron.

"And…" Donnie paused. "Oh! You don't keep your back straight when doing omota gota giatu!"

Donnie fired, and hit the back of Raph's shell.

"And you're ugly!" he added, firing another arrow that hit his brother.

"And gassy!" said Mikey, who fired another arrow, which hit Raph as well.

"And _boring_!" I sang, firing an arrow that hit Raph's arm.

"Stop it!" Raph shouted.

"Aw, you talk so tough, but inside you're just a scared little baby," said Leo.

"Who needs his bottle!" said Donnie, and he fired.

"And his diaper changed!" Mikey added, firing an arrow as well.

"Aw, little Raph's getting a temper tantrum," I cooed teasingly, firing an arrow that hit his shell.

"What's wrong, Raph? Gonna cry?" Leo taunted.

"I…"

I shot an arrow that hit the back of Raph's head.

"Am…"

An arrow hit the side of his head.

"Not…"

An arrow hit the other side.

"Gonna cry-!"

An arrow hit his forehead, right between the eyes. Raph fell back and landed on his shell.

"Ahh… I wish this moment would last forever," Mikey sighed.

"You know what?!" Raph stood up, throwing his sais on the ground. "Forget this! This is _stupid_!"

"Aww! It didn't!" Mikey said disappointingly.

Raph turned, his frame hunched over, a grim look on his face. He walked over to Sensei, who observed his arrow-covered son.

"Ninniku Seishin is the ability to endure insults with patience and humility," Sensei said wisely. "You cannot be a true ninja until you learn to master it."

The arrows on the sides of Raph's head popped off, and Mikey giggled. Raph glared at his brother, clenching his hand into a fist.

"_Understood_?" Sensei asked firmly.

Raph unclenched his fist, and turned to face Splinter. "Hai, Sensei."

"You must get that video back," said Sensei. "Using _reason_, not force."

Raph looked down at the floor, a glum look on his face. I gulped slightly. _Great, now I feel bad… _I took a deep breath, and slowly walked towards Raph. I saw Sensei glance down at me, but I continued forward. I stopped only when I was right next to Raph.

"I'm sorry."

Raph snapped his head up and looked at me, a surprised look on his face. I glanced up at the arrow on the back of his head- the one that I had fired. I reached up, grabbed it, and took it off with a loud _pop!_

"I'm sorry for this insult," I told him.

Raph stared at me, speechless. I grabbed the arrow I had fired at his arm, and took it off.

"And this one…"

I grabbed the one on the top of his shell, and I took that one off, too.

"And this one…"

I reached for the one on his chest, and it popped off as well.

"And this one," I put all of the arrows in one hand, and held my hands at my sides. "I didn't mean any of the things I said, and I hope you can forgive me."

The whole room was silent. Nobody spoke. Raph was staring at me, a confused look on his face. A second later a small grin appeared on his face.

"Don't sweat it, Nia," he said. "I know you didn't mean it."

I smiled at him, feeling very relieved. I glanced up at Sensei, and I saw he was smiling warmly at me.

* * *

><p>We decided to go after the guy the next night. We were hiding on the roof of the guy's apartment, waiting for him to appear. Sure enough, after we were there for an hour, the dude finally walked out of the building, talking on the phone.<p>

"I swear in my mother's grave that these guys are frogs and they know Kung Fu!" he said. "They even got a pretty little white-haired girl who can fight like wildcat! You can't tell me that's not worth _somethin'_!"

"Now!" Leo hissed.

At once we all jumped off the roof and landed in a circle around him. He stopped walking and stared at us all.

"I'll call you back," he hung the phone up, and he pointed at us as he backed up. "Lay one finger on me frog, and I'm callin' the cops. And that means you too, Snowcap!" he added to me.

"My hair's not white!" I said exasperatedly.

The man rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I ain't got time for you..."

"We're not gonna hurt you," Raph grunted through gritted, his fists clenched.

"Then whadda want, freak?"

I gulped. _God, this guy's really asking for it now. _Feeling nervous, I glanced over at Raph, and saw he was shaking slightly, his fists clenching and unclenching.

"We got off on the wrong foot last night," he said, the pitch in his voice going slightly higher as he tried to stay calm. "Some things were said, and well… We would just like that video back. Hm?"

He gave a small shrug, and unconvincing grin on his face. We all looked at the man, giving him hopeful smiles. He raised an eyebrow, not looking convinced. Leo nudged Raph's arm, and the latter glared at his older brother before groaning.

"Please…" he said lowly.

"What are you gonna give me for it?" the man asked.

"Oh, boy…" I sighed.

"Give you for it?" Raph asked.

"Well, I figure I got you over a barrel, so you need to make it worth my while."

Raph grinned evilly. "I'll make it worth your while… I WON'T TAKE YOUR HEAD AND SMASH IT AGAINST THE-!"

"Okay!" Leo said quickly. "Thank you, Raphael! _I _will take over!"

Raph turned away and folded his arms, a glum look on his face. I could see steam rising off his head. I rolled my eyes as I patted his shoulder.

"So, what are you looking for?" Leo asked the man.

"Ah… Cool mil oughta cover it."

Leo nodded. "Mhm, mhm… A cool mil of what?"

"A million dollars."

I turned my head to stare at the man. "You cannot be serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking, _Snowcap_?" the man said, smirking.

"Dude, we're fifteen!" I snapped. "We ain't got two penny's to rub together!"

"We do have some Canadian quarters that fell through the grate!" Mikey said hopefully.

But the man wasn't having any of it. "I can make some serious money off of this thing," he said, waving the phone at us. "And if you don't wanna pay, I'll hold onto it until someone else does."

"That's it!"

Raph had finally snapped. He grabbed the man by his wrist, flipped him over, and pinned him to the ground.

"Hand over the video!" he raised his fist up. "Or so help me, I'll kick your hairy butt all the way to New Jersey!"

"Raph, c'mon, stop it!" I said.

But at that point we were all engulfed in the bright beam of headlights. I turned around, and saw a van just down the street.

"Guys, the Kraang!" Leo yelled.

The white van's engine rumbled as I started heading for us, getting faster and faster.

"Raph! Look out!" Leo shouted.

He leaped forward, grabbed Raph and the man, and managed to push them out of the way just in time before the van could run them over. Once the van passed I ran over to make sure that Leo and Raph were okay.

"Guys! Are you alright?" I asked.

"Never better," Raph grunted as he stood up.

We all turned to look at the van, and saw it had turned and was heading back towards us.

"Let's not let this one get away," said Leo.

Raph turned and grabbed an empty oil barrel. He flung it at the van, and hit the vehicle. The van skidded, hit the walls, and then crashed into a building.

"Well, that was easy," Raph said smugly, folding his arms.

Then the Kraang-droids busted out of the back of the van, aimed their guns at us, and began firing.

"Okay…" Raph said slowly.

"Thanks for jinxing us, Raph," I said bluntly.

I withdrew my kamas and jumped out of the way of the lasers. I ran up to one robot and kicked him to the ground. I was about to kick its face when it lifted the gun, and I saw it had a saw on it. I yelped as I jumped back to avoid getting my foot chopped off. The Kraang-droid stood up and charged at me, but I managed to move out of the way to avoid the saw. I kicked the robot's arm up and used my kama to slice the appendage off. I spun around, and kicked the dude back several feet.

"Raph, what are you doing? Get back here!"

I whipped my head around and saw Raph was stomping off towards the van, leaving Leo alone. Leo, being caught off guard, was suddenly pushed over by several Kraang-droids. They surrounded him, and started kicking him repeatedly. Leo held his hands over his head to protect his face and skull.

"Raph!" he shouted to his younger brother.

"Hold on, Leo!" I shouted.

I ran up to the robots and jumped up. I landed on one of them and threw my kama at another. The blade embedded itself into the robot's head, and the thing fell down on the ground. At that moment, Donnie and Mikey both ran up to us. Donnie helped Leo to his feet. But even as everything seemed temporarily fine, there was the rumble of an engine, and we saw the van drive off.

"Raph's in the van!" Leo shouted.

I blinked. "What?!"

Without hesitation, we all turned and ran after the vehicle. We ran as fast as we could, trying to catch up to the van. The back doors were opened, and I could see Raph fighting off several Kraang-droids. One robot managed to put him in a headlock and tried to shove him out. But Raph bit the robot's arm and punched the dude in the face. Then he held his arm out to the human guy(_how the hell did he get _in there_?_), but the human shook his head.

"Raph!" Donnie held his Bo staff out for his brother to grab. "Get out of there!"

Raph glanced at us before turning back to the human. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but he was obviously yelling at the dude. But then another Kraang-droid grabbed him by his neck, and threw him out of the van. Before we could move he knocked into all of us, sending us down to the ground. I gasped as the wind was nearly knocked out of me, I slowly sat up. The van was gone. The Kraang had escaped.

All of the boys groaned as they got to their feet, staggering a little. Raph was still on the ground, holding his head gingerly. I quickly walked over to him and grabbed his arm.

"You okay, dude?" I asked as I helped him to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said gruffly.

"Oh, I'm glad you feel that way, Raph!" Leo snapped. "Especially since you just screwed up everything!"

Raph snapped his head to look at Leo. "What did _I _do?"

"What did you _do_? You left us in the middle of the fight to _yell _at somebody!" Leo said angrily. "We could've stopped them, but thanks to your temper, the guy with the tape-"

"Again, technically, it's a-"

"Not now!" Leo snapped at Donnie.

Donnie glanced down at the ground, looking sheepish.

"…is in the hands of the Kraang!" Leo finished. "How are we suppose to find them?"

Raph glared at Leo, his arms shaking. This didn't look good. Not at all.

"Look!" Donnie said suddenly. "The truck's leaking!"

I looked down at where Donnie was crouching, and I saw what looked like a puddle of oil in front of him. I glanced down the street, and I saw there were several more puddles, all in a line.

"Alright!" said Leo, looking a little more pleased. "We can follow the trail to their hideout!"

"And then we'll bash some bots!" Raph said enthusiastically, punching a fist into his hands.

Leo's face fell as he turned to look at his brother. The eldest turtle's face was cold, and firm.

"What?" the younger one asked.

"_We _are going to bash some bots," Leo folded his arms. "_You _are going home."

I turned my head to stare at Leo. _No… He wouldn't…_

"What? Are you kidding?" Raph looked at the rest of us. "Guys, are we really gonna let Leo power trip like this?"

There was a moment of silence.

"…I think Leo's right," Donnie said finally.

Raph stared at him in surprise. Then he looked at me.

"Nia, c'mon…"

I gulped. "I…um…"

"It doesn't matter what she says, Raph," Leo said. "I'm your leader, and I'm telling you to go home."

"Leo…"

But Leo held a hand up to silence me.

"You've gotta control your temper," he told Raph. "Until then… we just can't trust you."

Leo turned and started to walk away, and Donnie followed him.

"Sorry, Raph," said Mikey, and he walked away too.

I turned my head to Raph, and he was looking back at me. I could tell that he was furious, but he seemed to be holding it in.

"Raph, I'm sorry…"

"Don't say it," he said lowly. "Just go."

I gulped, feeling as though I were swallowing a large rock down my throat. I sighed before turning and following my brothers down the street. But even as I walked, I turned my head in time to see Raph throw his sias down on the ground in frustration. _I'm so sorry, Raph…_

* * *

><p>The oil trail led us to what appeared to be an old, abandoned building. As we arrived we leaned against the wall, observing the structure.<p>

"We're here," Donnie whispered.

I glanced down at Mikey, and I saw he had an uneasy look on his face.

"You okay, Mikey?" I asked him.

"Well…" he looked up at me. "Are we really gonna do this without Raph?"

I bit down on my lip. Honestly, I didn't know how to answer that. Apparently, Leo did.

"We can handle this," Leo said firmly.

"I dunno," said Mikey. "It just feels like something's missing."

Then Leo reared his hand up and smacked the back of Mikey's head.

"Ow!" then Mikey grinned. "Thanks."

"Happy to help," said Leo. "Let's go!"

We all climbed up the roof, and managed to brake in soon after. We were all in a dark, dusty bottom floor with several stairs. Not only that, there were a lot of cobwebs, as well as webs that still had a few spiders left in them.

"Spiders…" Mikey whimpered as he stared at a web that held a particularly large spider.

"It's okay, Mikey," I assured him. "It's just a little ol' bug, nothing more."

He gulped, but nodded. We continued on for a few more moments; Leo in the lead, me and Mikey walking side-by-side, and Donnie bringing up the rear. Both me and Mikey stopped momentarily, looking around for a second. Just as we both took a step forward, I saw Donnie reach up and smack the back of Mikey's head.

"Ow!"

"Don!"

"What?" Donnie shrugged, but I could've sworn I saw a smirk lingering on the corners of his mouth.

"You don't have to keep doing that!" Mikey napped through gritted teeth, rubbing his head gingerly.

"There was a spider on yah," Donnie said innocently.

Mikey glared. "Well, there's a spider on you, too!"

Donnie looked over his shoulder. "No there isn't…"

"C'mere!"

Mikey suddenly jumped onto Donnie, sending both of them to the ground. Mikey sat up and started to slap Donnie's head repeatedly. I quickly ran over and grabbed the top of Mikey's shell, trying to pry him off.

"Guys, c'mon, knock it off!" I snapped at them, but they didn't stop.

"Hey!" Leo hissed.

At once we all stopped moving. We turned our heads to look up at the leader.

"Shh!"

I frowned up at him as he turned around again. I let got of Mikey's shell and stood back as both him and Donnie stood up on their feet. Both turtles started to walk before Mikey turned back around, his hand in the air, threatening to start slapping again.

"Mikey…" I warned quietly.

After a second Mikey lowered his hand and walked away. I rolled my eyes as Donnie groaned in exasperation, and we continued on.

After what felt like and hour we came across this very large room. Inside it was what looked like a giant, 15ft tall can of mutagen. At the base of the huge thing, there were several Kraang-bots(some in their metal exoskeletons), and the rude human sitting in a chair.

"Well, you guys drive a hard bargain," he said. "Tell you what, I'll drop it down to five hundred thousand, and you can keep the phone!"

The Kraang turned away, apparently looking at the phone.

"Okay, four hundred thousand!" the human said, now sounding desperate.

"This is our fight with the beings known as 'the turtles, and the girl,'" I heard one of the blue Kraang-droids say.

"The usefulness of this will be proven usefully with the more watching of this," said another blue bot.

"Also," said a disguised Kraang. "This is being a good image of Kraang."

I rolled my eyes. _Give me a break… _While the Kraang were distracted Mikey had managed to loosen his kusarigama chain, swung it outward, and managed to hook the curved blade to the chair. Slowly and gently, he started to pull the on the chain, pulling the chair back closer to us. As he was pulled back the man turned his head to look at us.

"We're gonna get you out of here," Leo whispered.

"What about my phone?"

"Shh!" Leo hissed.

"Don't shush me!" the man said angrily. "I ain't leavin' here without my phone!"

_Geez, this guy is gonna get us caught…_

"Stop the ones that need to be stopped," I heard a Kraang shout.

"Stop!" said another.

_Damn…_

"Remind me why we need to rescue this guy," said Donnie.

The Kraang started firing at us. We all unsheathed our weapons as we charged towards the robots. I managed to jump up over a few, and landed on one's back. I took my right kama and sliced the bots neck, causing the head to become severed. The body fell down as I jumped off of it and landed in front of another one. The robot raised its weapon, but I swung my leg up and kicked it down to the ground. I raised my kamas and shoved them down into the robots head. I yanked them out, sparks flew, and I spun around and kicked the bot in its chest.

Before anything else could happen there was a long, drawn out yell. It sounded oddly like the human's voice. Then the yell slowly turned into a roar that sounded from behind the giant mutagen canister, and we all stopped moving. The Kraang powered up their weapons and aimed them into the darkness.

"Kraang, go look to the place where the thing that make the noise is, and tell us what thing makes that noise in that place," one Kraang-droid said to another.

_Geez, their grammar is awful, _I thought. The Kraang nodded, and walked into the darkness. We all stood there, waiting for something to come out. Suddenly, the Kraang-droid was throw back out of the dark. The little Kraang brain crawled out of the robot body and scrambled away, squalling in fear. The rest of the Kraang aimed their guns back to the darkness as another roar sounded.

"I don't like the sound of that," said Mikey.

"Me neither," I added.

At that moment an enormous creature jumped out from behind the huge canister and landed with a loud crash. It looked like a giant, mutant spider. It was solid black, had four legs with red stripes that appeared to be sticking out from its large head. It had short, stubby, humanoid arms and legs that had claws, and six large red eyes glared were glaring right at us. It opened its mouth, and revealed its several big, scary teeth.

"I don't like the look of it either!" Mikey said fearfully.

"What did you do to me?" the mutant spider yelled. "I'm hideous!"

I gasped. "Guys! It's the human!" I said. "He got hit with some mutagen!"

"And he got uglier!" Mikey added.

"Don't worry!" Leo said quickly. "The five of us can handle it!"

I looked over at him. _The _five _of us?_

"Okay, this might be a bad time to point this out," Donnie said timidly. "But, you sent one of the five of us home…"

"And right now, I wish it was me!" Mikey whimpered.

"This is your fault!" the spider growled. "I'm gonna rip your heads off!"

I gulped as I gripped the handles of my kamas tightly. _Good Lord, this is bad!_

"Alright, guys!" Leo held up his katana. "Get ready to dish out the might wrath of justice!"

"Seriously, just yell 'get him,'" Donnie said bluntly.

"Get-!"

But Leo was cut off as a long, black leg smacked him aside, causing him to crash into a pile of boxes.

Donnie charged at the spider, jumping up and tried to bring his staff down on the mutant spider's head. The four giant spider legs grabbed the staff and threw Donnie. I let out and irritated growl as I ran up to the giant spider. I threw one of my kamas up at the mutant's face, but he blocked it with one of his large legs. I jumped up and landed on the same leg. I launched myself towards the spider's face, aiming my kama at it. But two large legs grabbed me, and threw me far away. I shot through the air before landing on top of Donnie. I rolled off of him and laid my back on the floor.

"You…okay?" he grunted.

"Yep…" I groaned.

A second later Mikey, who was thrown by the spider too, landed next to us.

"Mikey, are you alright?" I asked as he sat up.

He groaned in response, but he appeared to be fine. I turned my head to see Leo standing in front of us, facing the large spider. We all instantly got to our feet.

"Is that all you got?" Mikey taunted.

"Mikey!" I snapped.

The spider started making large hacking sounds. Suddenly, an enormous, yellow spit glob was shot at our feet. The junk hissed, and melted through the floor like acid.

"The answer I was looking for was 'yes,'" Mikey said, sounding scared.

The spider then started shooting out glob after glob, firing at us like it was a machine gun. We all jumped and dodged in panic, trying to avoid the acid globs as well as the spider.

"I think that's our cue!" Leo said.

At once we turned and started sprinting for the exit. But the giant spider jumped in front of us, blocking our way. It roared as I let out a yelp. We turned and scattered as more acid globs were fired at us.

Donnie took his staff and swung it, trying to hit the mutants head. But he was blocked and thrown back quickly. Me and Leo both charged at the spider, our weapons held at the ready. But no matter how many times we hit the thing, he would always block us. I swung my kamas back and forth, aiming for the spider's head, his side, and his stomach. But each time I swung one of his legs would come down to block it. It went on until me and Leo where shoved back by one of the large legs. At that moment Mikey took a large oil barrel and lodged it into the mouth of the spider. The mutant looked surprised, and tried biting down on the barrel. Mikey smirked as he tossed another barrel at the spider's face. Said creature growled before spitting out the barrel and charging at them.

We all turned and ran off. The spider then started using its particularly sharp spider legs to stab at us. I yelped as I jumped to avoid a leg that just barely missed my left side. Suddenly, there was a loud hissing sound. I looked around and saw we were surrounded by acid globs. The globs melted through the floor, and we all fell through the large hole that resulted. We landed hard on the next floor, falling all over. I gripped my kamas tightly as I pushed myself up to a kneeling position.

"We're no match for Spider Bytes!" said Mikey.

"Spider Bytes?" Leo asked as he pushed himself up to his feet with his katana.

"Well, he's a spider, and he bites. So, I thought-"

"We get it!" Leo snapped.

'Spider Bytes' then jumped through the hole we had fallen through, and landed on his hands and feet. The spider stood himself upside down on his legs, back flipped right side up, faced us, and roared in our faces. Mikey screamed loudly, and the rest of us weren't any better. Mikey ran first, dodging left and right. We all followed close behind him. Spider Bytes rolled onto his legs, and then landed on his feet. We ran to the right, and the same thing happened.

"This bug is fast!" said Leo.

"Yeah, spiders aren't actually bugs," said Donnie.

Before he could continue one of the legs wrapped around his body and lifted him up into the air. Donnie yelled as he was flung around, and then thrown at a large crate.

"Donnie!" I yelled.

"Play time's over, frogs!" Spider Bytes yelled.

He hacked again, and an acid glob landed very close to Mikey and Leo.

"Leo, a plan would be really helpful right now!" I said, my voice shaking slightly.

"I know, I'm thinking," he said, his voice making him sound unsure.

I gulped and backed away as far as I could as Spider Bytes chomped his jaws at us, getting closer and closer…

"Wow, I didn't think this guy could get any uglier!"

I gasped. _Raph!_ I looked up at the upper level we fell through earlier, and I could see my red-banded bro standing there, looking down at us.

"Raph!" me, Donnie and Mikey said happily.

Raph jumped up from the upper floor and dived down. He landed neatly on one knee on the same floor as us.

"Well, I think you've been punished long enough," said Leo. "Come and join us!"

"Well, hey!" Spider Bytes mocked, smirking at Raph. "It's the Kung Fu frog with the salad tongs!"

Raph glared at him. "Hey, it's the stupid loudmouth who's about to get his butt kicked."

I grinned. _That's my boy!_ Spider Bytes spat an acid glob in Raph's direction, but the turtle simply jumped out of the way. Then the spider rolled around me and the others, spitting acid globs all around us. Before we could do anything the acid melted through, and we fell through this floor just like last time. We landed hard on the lower level, and I tumbled over and fell on this floor. I groaned as I pushed myself up with my arms. I glanced down at the floor, and I saw it was made of thick glass, and there was mutagen swirling around underneath.

"Uh… Let's not fall through _this _floor, okay?" Donnie said weakly as he stared down at the floor.

I nodded. "Agreed!"

I stood up on my feet as I stared up at the upper level. Spider Bytes and Raph were facing each other, and I could hear the spider speaking.

"Watch me turn your friends into frog fries!" the spider taunted. "I'll serve 'em up with your salad tongs! And I'll use them to skewer your snow-haired girlfriend like a marshmallow!"

I gulped. _That sounds very unpleasant…_ Spider Bytes turned around and jumped down the hole.

"Scram!" Leo shouted.

We all scattered as Spider Bytes landed with a loud thud. I looked up in time to see Raph land on top of the spider's head, jump off of him, and turned to face him, sais gripped tightly in his hands. Spider Bytes turned to face Raph, and I could see the giant mutant smirking down at the turtle.

"Aww… Froggie thinks he can stop me," the spider taunted. "Ribbit, ribbit…"

I gulped. _C'mon Raph, don't let him get to you…_

"What's that, tadpole? You too afraid to leap off your lily pad?"

I glanced down at Raph, waiting for him to do something. He glared up at the spider, anger in his eyes. Then his eyes shut as he took a long, slow breath. Then, even though he was whispering and was more than several feet away from me, I somehow managed to hear what he said next.

"Like a river over stone…"

I raised my brow. _I wonder… _Raph opened his eyes, and then smirked. He darted forward and jumped up, delivering several kicks and punches to Spider Bytes' face. After a few blows the spider fell down on his back, whimpering. Spider Bytes extended one of his long legs and reached for Raph's face. But the turtle managed to block the blow with his sai. Raph shouted as he pushed the leg aside just as an acid glob shot for him, but instead hit the spider leg. Spider Bytes yelled in pain, bringing his legs back towards him. He looked at his injured leg, then glared at Raph.

"That's some Kung Fu, frog."

At that moment we all jumped up and landed next to Raph. He grinned at us, then at the spider as he pointed one of his sais at the mutant.

"We're not _Kung Fu frogs_, we're _ninja turtles_!" Raph glanced at me, still grinning. "And a badass kunoichi!"

I grinned back at him. At once we all charged. Leo sliced his katana at one of the legs, while Mikey zip-lined across two others using his weapons, kicking Spider Bytes in the face. The spider started to stumble back, and that's when I charged up to him, jumped up, and delivered a hard kick to his face. The mutant spider flew back, and Donnie and Raph delivered their final blows on him. Spider Bytes landed heavily next to the large mutagen core, whimpering like a puppy that just got kicked. It was at that moment that I glanced down at the floor, and I saw the almost forgotten phone lying there.

"Oh, Raph," I sang. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Raph looked at me as I pointed down at the phone. He grinned before marching over and smashing the phone with his foot.

"No! My phone!" Spider Bytes yelled.

"Really?" I said exasperatedly. "You got mutated into an ugly spider and all you care about is your phone? Man, you're weird!"

We all surrounded the spider, closing in on him. He backed away slowly, keeping his distance from us. He glared at all of us.

"You're gonna regret this!" he vowed.

He flipped up, and used his spider legs to grab onto the mutagen core and crawl around it. We sheathed all of our weapons and ran to follow him.

We followed the mutant spider all the way up to the rooftop. By the time we got there he was already far ahead, jumping from building to building, roaring like a dinosaur.

"I know a nice Black Widow that'd be great for him," Donnie said casually.

"Yeah, well, let's hope they don't work out," I placed my hands in the pockets of my hoodie. "I mean, can you imagine if they hooked up? Bet any baby of theirs would be the ugliest things in the world."

Donnie and Mikey laughed, and Raph chuckled. I smiled at the red-banded turtle as I turned to face him.

"So, what made you come back, big guy?" I asked.

"After I went home I had a talk with Master Splinter," he told me. "He told me that losing my temper could cost me everything. He said… that I should let insults wash over me…"

"Like a river over stone…" I finished, remembering the words Raph had said before.

"Yeah," he looked at me. "How'd you know?"

"Oh, I heard you say it before."

"When I was fighting the bug?"

I nodded.

"But, I was at least 10 feet from you, and I whispered," he raised his brow. "How'd you hear me?"

I thought about that. How did I hear him?

"I dunno. I guess I got good ears."

Raph didn't look fully convinced, but shrugged anyway. Before he could say more, Leo walked up to him.

"Nice work, Raph," he said, smiling at his brother. "I just wanted to say…"

"You don't have to apologize," Raph assured him.

Leo grinned. "I wasn't going to."

"Oh… Good!"

"Yeah, Raph," Mikey said, grinning. "Not bad for a bloated buffalo."

Mikey turned away as Raph clenched his fisted. The angry turtle glared at his younger brother, then his glare turned into an evil smirk.

"Uh, Mikey? You know we're not playing that game anymore, right?" I asked, unsurely.

Before Mikey could respond, Raph pounced on him. I couldn't help but giggle slightly as me and the other two watched Mikey flap his arms feebly and frantically.

"Ah! Okay!" Mikey gave a shout that turned into a wail. "Raph is all wise and powerful!"

"And…?"

"_And he's better than me in every possible way…!_"

I rolled my eyes. _Boys…_


	9. New Friend, Old Enemy

Ch. 4  
>New Friend, Old Enemy<p>

Man, I got to say, after spending the past few nights doing nothing but busting some bots, I was glad to be doing something fun tonight. Good, old fashion ninja fun for me and my bros. And fun for us consisted of us racing and doing tricks across the rooftops at night.

"Check it out!" Donnie shouted.

He lunged forward, running past all of us. He jumped off the rooftop and flipped, letting out a loud and happy "yee-hee!" He landed neatly on the opposite rooftop, sliding to a stop.

"Nice one, Don!" I yelled.

"Watch this, Nia!" said Mikey.

He jumped and bounced of the side of a rooftop water tower. He flipped in midair before rolling onto the opposite rooftop, landing right next to Donnie. Mikey laughed as he punched his fist into the air, and Donnie clapped. We all skidded to a stop at the end of the roof. We looked down to see the drop was pretty far down.

"Top that, chumps!" Mikey shouted as Donnie smirked at us, making challenging gestures with his hands.

"Uh-uh, them's fightin' words, Mikey!" I taunted, grinning at the younger turtle.

"Alright, guys…" Leo grinned. "Check _this _out!"

Leo took several steps back, then darted forward. He did a couple of front flips before jumping off of the roof. He did a few more flips in the air before landing on his feet on the opposite roof, finishing off with a midair cartwheel.

"Whoa!" Mikey gasped.

Leo nodded, then turned to smirk at me and Raph. Me and Raph looked at each other.

"Ladies first?" he said teasingly.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, aren't you a gentlemen?"

"C'mon, Nia!" Mikey yelled. "Whatcha got up your sleeve, girl?"

I chuckled. "Alright," I shook my arms a little to loosen myself up. "Let's see how you boys like _this_!"

I crouched down for a second before sprinting forward. I stepped up on the ledge and leaped off, holding my arms out. I curled up and did several summersaults in the air. I landed on the roof with my three other bros, spinning in a circle and sliding back, almost like a figure-skater sliding on the ice. I grinned at them as I stood up straight, walking up to them with my hands in my pockets.

"Sweet moves!" Donnie jeered.

Leo stared in amazement, and Mikey wolf whistled. I smiled at them as I walked forward, looking across the building at the fourth, remaining turtle.

"Your turn, Raph!" I called to him. "Show us what yah got, bro!"

Raph looked at me, grinning with mischief. He cracked his neck as he took a step back. Then he ran to the ledge, jumped, and shot forward. I had one glance at my bro's smirking face before he crashed into us. I let out a yelp as me and my bros were all knocked down to the ground. I heard Raph laugh as he got off of us. He sat on the ground and smirked at us as the other boys all stood up.

"Not cool, dude," I groaned as I sat up.

"Hey, what was that?" asked Donnie. "You didn't even do any flips."

Raph grinned. "Oops."

Mikey was helping me to my feet when there was a distant noise from somewhere on the roof. We all turned, but didn't see anything. Leo went forward, leaning against the wall. We followed close behind, waiting for him to give us the signal. He held his hand up, telling us to wait. Then he reached back and slowly unsheathed his sword. At once I reached down and took out my tessen as the others took out their weapons. We waited a couple of seconds before jumping out from behind the wall…

And came face-to-face with a little black and white kitten.

The little thing meowed, blinking its large eyes at us. I blinked at the creature as I glanced over at Leo, who looked shocked, surprised, and a little embarrassed.

"Don't give up, Leo," Raph said, mocking encouragement. "You might win this fight."

I rolled my eyes as I sheathed my tessen. I walked over to the kitten, kneeled down, and reached my hand out.

"Hey little buddy. Whatcha doing out here?"

The kitten sniffed my hand for a second before rubbing it head against it. I grinned as I scratched a spot behind its ear.

"Aww! It's a kitty!" I heard Mikey cooing happily.

He lunged forward and picked the little kitty up. He scratched the animal's little chest as he checked the collar.

"And it's name is…"

I rolled my eyes. "Let me guess…"

"Mittens!"

"Good guess, Nia!"

"Uh, that wasn't me."

Mikey looked up. "Then who said that?"

I turned and looked around before I saw a human poking his head out of the window of the opposite building.

"Mittens?" he called out.

"I think that's the owner," said Donnie.

At once Mikey quickly stood up and started to walk forward. But I ran forward and stopped him.

"Whoa! Hold it, dude," I warned.

"What?" he asked. "I'm returning Mittens to her owner!"

"Are you an _idiot_?" Raph snapped, then paused. "Wait, let me rephrase that; You're an _idiot_!"

"You can't show yourself to a human!" said Donnie.

"Why not?"

"Because they'll freak the heck out!" Donnie snapped at his younger brother. "_That's _why not!"

"No they won't," Mikey said simply. "I'm not so scary."

"You're an ugly, green mutant armed with ninja weapons!" Raph said harshly.

"Raph!" I snapped, then I turned to Mikey. "Mikey, while I don't entirely agree with Raph, and I personally think you're _adorable_, the others are right. If you reveal yourself to that human, who knows what could happen."

"Look," Mikey said confidently. "The guy's gonna see that I'm a regular, cat-loving dude like him! Next thing you know, we'll be best buds! This is gonna be _awesome_!"

Holding Mittens close to his chest, Mikey turned to leave. But just as he was about to jump, I grabbed his shell.

"Mikey, don't," I said firmly.

"Nia, I just wanna get Mittens-"

"I'll take her back, bro. Okay?"

"What?" all the guys, including Mikey, said in unison.

"Yeah," I said simply. "I'll bring Mittens back to her owner. Piece of cake."

"Are you crazy?" asked Raph.

"Have you boys really forgotten?" I placed my hands on my hips. "Guys, I'm _human_! Out of the five of us, I'm the only one who can afford to be seen by other humans. Look, I'll take Mittens, return her to the owner, and I'll come back. Alright?"

The three older turtles exchanged looks, as though debating their decision. Then Leo sighed, and nodded.

"Go ahead," he said. "But be right back. Understood?"

I giggled and gave a low bow. "Yes, oh great and mighty leader," I teased.

The others chuckled as Leo frowned. I straightened out and turned to Mikey, who was clutching the cat like it was one of his precious comic books.

"C'mon Mikey," I said gently. "Hand her over."

Mikey looked down at Mittens, who leaned up and licked his chin. He smiled and patted the kitten's head. Then he held her forward and I grabbed her.

"I'll be right back," I promised.

I held the kitten close to my chest as I jumped off the ledge and over to the fire escape on the opposite building. I looked up and saw the owner still poking his head out the window, calling for his cat. I climbed up the stairs of the fire escape, coming closer and closer to the window.

"Excuse me, sir?" I called up to him. "Is this your cat?"

The man turned to look at me, and gasped. "Mittens!"

The cat meowed at her owner. I walked over to the window, holding the cat out to him.

"I found her on the street when you started calling for her," I explained as I handed Mitten to the man. "I figured I might as well return her to you."

"Oh, thank you!" the man said happily. "My daughter will be so pleased that you found her cat!"

"Your daughter?"

"Yes!" the man turned his head. "Vanessa! Get in here!"

After a few seconds I heard footsteps, and a young girl appeared in the doorway. She was tall, about my height. She had short, curly black hair, and small, bright hazel eyes. The second she stepped foot into the room she looked at her father, saw the kitten, and gasped.

"Mittens!"

She squealed happily as she ran forward and took Mitten from her father. She patted her kittens head, kissing her lovingly.

"Oh, daddy! Where did you find her?"

"This young woman found her in the street!"

The girl turned to face me, and instantly jumped forward, pushing her father out of the way.

"Oh, thank you so much!" she said. "I was so worried about my little baby!"

"You're welcome," I said, smiling. "It was no trouble at all."

"I'll go tell your mother we found Mittens," said the father.

The man turned and walked out of the room. Me and the girl watched him until he shut the door. The girl turned to face me, her face beaming. Now that she was close up I could she that she was much older. In fact, she appeared to be about my age, a year older at the most.

"Again, thank you so much!"

"It was nothing, really."

The girl smiled at me, then extended her free hand out to me.

"I'm Vanessa. And you are?"

I blinked, staring down at her hand. Then I grinned and grasped her hand to shake it.

"Lavinia," I told her. "But please, call me Nia."

We shook hands for a second before letting go. The girl started petting her cat as she continued to speak.

"Um… how old are you exactly?" she asked. "If it's not a problem…"

"I'm fifteen," I answered. "And you?"

"Sixteen," she examined me. "Funny… I don't recognize you. Are you new to New York?"

I paused for a moment, choosing my words wisely.

"Well… sort of," I said. "You could say I just moved in."

"Alone?"

"Nah. I'm with my brothers and my dad."

"_Brothers_?" she asked. "As in, more than one?"

"Yep," I nodded. "Four, actually?"

"_Four?! _Geez, I can barley handle having one!"

Vanessa stared at me as I chuckled.

"It's not that hard," I said honestly. "Not really. You get used to it after a while."

She stiffened. "I think I'll just take your word for it."

I chuckled a bit, and she giggled. There was a pause.

"Listen, I really appreciate you finding my cat," she said. "And I'd really like to make it up to you."

"Oh, you don't have to," I said quickly.

"Yes I do!" Vanessa grinned. "In fact, I think I know how. You know where Central Park is, right?"

"Yes."

"Good. Well, I'm meeting up with my best friend tomorrow night. We meet up there every other night to hang out and have fun. And, as a token of my gratitude, I'd love it if you could come."

I blinked, staring at Vanessa in shock. Was this really happening? Please, pinch me if I'm dreaming!

"S-sure…" I said slowly. "I mean, I'd have to ask my dad first…"

"No problem!" Vanessa said sweetly. "You could call me tonight after you ask him.

I scratched my neck. "I would, but… I don't have a phone…"

Vanessa's jaw fell as she stared at me. I gulped. _So much for that… _Then she reached into one of her pockets and took out a large quarter.

"Here!" she held it out to me, and I took it. "After you ask him, you can use a payphone. Sound good?"

I gazed down at the quarter, then at Vanessa, and a grin spread across my face.

"Sure thing."

Vanessa grinned. Then she reached over to a nearby desk and picked up a small pen. I had a feeling on what she was doing. I lifted my hand to her as she brought the pen over. She then began writing a small group of numbers on my palm.

"Just call me whenever you can!" she said.

I nodded. "Got it."

"Bye Nia!"

"See yah."

I backed away as Vanessa reached up and closed the window. She waved at me before turning to walk out of the room. Still smiling, I turned and jumped off the fire escape, landing neatly on the alley floor.

"You took you're time," Raph's voice said.

I whipped my head around and saw all of my bros standing there. Donnie and Mikey looked normal, Raph was smirking at me, and Leo had his arms folded, looking like an impatient father.

"What?" I asked. "I said I'd be back, didn't I?"

"You didn't say anything about making plans with other humans," said Leo. "What's Splinter gonna say?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. Hopefully he'll say yes."

"And you'll get to go have fun with her," Mikey said, now sounding disappointed, and looked at his brothers. "See? Nia gets to go and have fun with a human friend."

"That's because Nia is a human, Mikey," Raph pointed out. "Face it. Humans will _never_ understand you. _Heck! We_ don't even understand you!"

I frowned at Raph as Mikey hung his head.

"Yeah," Mikey glanced up, then gasped, grinning. "But I bet _that _guy would!"

Me and the others turned our heads and looked up. There was a giant billboard that had a pictured of well-known martial artist, Chris Bradford.

"Chris Bradford?" Leo asked. "The martial arts superstar? With a chain of dojos across the country? _He's _your soulmate?"

Mikey didn't respond immediately. He drew out his nunchuck, whirling it as he struck a pose, the same one that Bradford was doing on the billboard.

"We have so much in common!" said Mikey.

"What if you stop standing like that?" Donnie asked, nodding up at the billboard.

"We'll have a little less in common," Mikey slumped for a second, then brightened up. "But still a lot! And look…!" He pointed back up at the billboard. "He's in town for a martial arts expo! Maybe he'll show me his secret kata! _The Death Dragon! _And I'll show him _my_ secret kata! _The Secret Kata!_"

"Catchy," Donnie said dully.

"Check it out!" Mikey said.

He punched, kicked, and did a couple of similar moves a couple of times. He did a couple of odd movements before doing what looked like a windshield wiper movement. He punched his fist one last time, and placed his hands on his hips.

"Now don't tell anyone you say that," he whispered seriously.

"No problem," said Leo.

"Won't tell a soul," I said bluntly.

"Face it, Mikey. Chris Bradford is the last person who would be friends with you," said Raph. "Well… tied for last with everyone else on earth."

I frowned at him as I shoved his shoulder.

"What?"

"Knock it off!" I snapped. "You're not making it any better!"

"Guys," Leo cut us off. "We got company."

I looked in the direction Leo was looking, directly behind Mikey. There were several people dressed in black wearing masks, and they appeared to be armed. Suddenly, several more masked people dropped down and landed all around us.

"Ninjas? In New York?" Donnie asked. "Other than us?"

"And carrying large, lethal weapons?" I added. "This night just took a pretty bad turn."

At once me and my bros took out our weapons. I unsheathed my tessen, opening it. _Be ready for anything, _I told myself. We all stood there, standing in defensive stances, waiting for something. One of the ninjas threw a throwing star at Donnie, who blocked it with his Bo staff. The star embedded itself into the wood, and Donnie let out a growl.

The ninjas then started to charge at us. Two of them headed for me, and I ran at them too. They both swung their weapons(one swung a katana, the other swung a kama), but I kneeled down and ducked before they could hit me. I kicked my foot out and tripped the one with the katana, and blocked the blow the one with the kama tried to deliver. I pushed the weapon away and went to strike the ninja's chest, but he blocked that blow. I quickly kneed him in the gut, punched him in the jaw, and snap kicked him in his chest, sending him back.

But then, out of nowhere, another ninja appeared, landing right in front of us. Only, he was much bigger, and looked way more fierce. He was dressed in armor of red and silver, and wore a helmet that covered his face. Me and my bros froze, staring at the newcomer. The ninja lunged forward, his fist raised, and punched Leo. The turtle flew backwards and his shell hit the wall hard. I gasped as Raph stood, dumbfounded. The huge ninja swung around and kicked Raph hard, sending him flying.

"Raph!" I yelled.

I ran forward as I swung my tessen out. The guy ducked his head to avoid the weapon. I jumped up and tried to kick him, but he grabbed my ankle and threw me. I landed on the concrete and tumbled away. I groaned in pain, holding myself. I heard Donnie yell as he got thrown beside me. After a few moments I looked up, and the ninja was holding Mikey by his shell.

"What are you?" he asked, his voice muffled by the mask.

Mikey pressed his feet to the ninja's chest and back flipped out of his grasp. The guy held onto Mikey's kuasriagama chain, trying to pull him back. Then Leo jumped up and cut the chain with his katana. The large ninja stumbled back. At once I stood up, grabbed my tessen as the boys got into defensive stances once more. I glared at the ninja as I opened my tessen, ready to continue the fight.

At that moment the wailing of police sirens met our ears, and at once, the large ninja and his buddies turned and ran off.

"Come on!" I said quickly. "We better go, too!"

Without any hesitations, we turned and disappeared just as a couple of cop cars pulled up.

* * *

><p>It was the next night, and we were still feeling pretty sore from our fight with the ninjas. I had a bad bruise from where I landed on the concrete after I was thrown, but other than that I was fine. Now, we were all taking the advantage of our day off. Donnie was playing around on his laptop, Mikey was reading a magazine, and Raph was doing pushups using the handles of his sais. Me and April were sitting on the couch, and I had been discussing my plans for that evening.<p>

"So, you're really gonna meet up with this Vanessa girl and her friend tonight?" April asked as she looked up from her magazine.

"Yep," I said. "I asked Master Splinter last night. He had to think about it for a while, but he said yes."

"Cool."

I nodded.

"Wow, that's rad!" I heard Mikey say.

I looked over at him, and saw was sitting in a beanbag chair, reading his own magazine.

"Whatcha reading, Mikey?" I asked.

I leaned over to look at what Mikey was reading, and saw it was an issue of _Martial Pain_. And it had Chris Bradford's picture on the cover.

"Oh, I wish me and Chris Bradford were friends!" he squealed, sounding like an excited little fanboy.

He chomped on the magazine, making noises that sounded like, "Nom, nom, nom!" He fell back on his shell and started kicking his feet like he was having a fanboy heart attack. It was kind of adorable, actually.

"Mikey, you already have a human friend," April smiled, and when Mikey stared blankly at her she added, "Me!"

"April, you don't count," Mikey looked back at his magazine. "We saved your life. You _have _to like us."

I grinned. "He's got a point, April."

April raised her eyebrow. "Well… what about Nia?" she asked Mikey.

"She's our sister. That doesn't count either."

"Geez, thanks," I said bluntly. "Really feeling the love."

"Too bad there's no place for freaks to meet people where no one can see how hideous they are," Raph grunted as he continued doing his pushups.

"Wait… there is! The internet!" said April. "Donnie, can I see your laptop?"

"S-sure! Just a sec!" he said nervously.

Donnie quickly pressed something on his laptop before walking over to us. He gave April his laptop as he sat down next to her, looking nervous.

"Check it out. It's a site where you can make friends with anybody online," April said as she tapped away at the keyboard.

"Sweet!"

Suddenly Mikey shot forward, pushed April out of the way, and grabbed the laptop. He clicked on the tiny search box and tapped away at the keys. He sat there, waiting for a few moments. Then he gasped.

"_Ooh!_ Chris Bradford's on here! He'll be my first friend!"

Mikey moved the mouse to the little button that said 'Friend,' and pressed it. He then leaned in close, gazing at the computer screen. I cleared my throat.

"Uh, Mikey…?"

"Shh! I'm waiting for his response!" he whispered to me, still looking at the screen.

April smiled at him. "Mikey, people don't always respond immedi-"

But she was cut off as a loud _bleep_ sounded from the laptop. April blinked.

"But, sometimes they do," she finished simply.

Mikey sat up, looking like he was going to have a heart attack and a seizer at the same time.

"_No way!_ Chris Bradford has accepted my friendship! _I have a friend!_" he reached over and hugged April tightly. "Thanks April!"

I glanced over at Donnie, and saw he was gapping at his little brother. I giggled. Then Mikey threw the laptop into the air and started to walk off.

"Where are you goin- Hey!"

Donnie yelped as he jumped forward and caught his laptop, landing on his stomach.

"To hang out with my _friend_, Chris Bradford," Mikey said confidently.

"Ah… I don't think that's how it works, Mikey," I told him.

April nodded. "Yeah. Besides, this guy's famous. He probably has thousands of 'friends,'" she said, putting quotes on the last word.

"And guess who's number five thousand, two hundred and eighty-six!"

Me and April looked at each other, then back at Mikey.

"You?" she guessed.

"Lady Gaga?" I asked.

"Daniel Remirez! And I'm right next to him!" Mikey gave a wink and a salute. "Later!"

And without another word, Mikey left.

"Well… this oughta be interesting," said April.

"Should we go after him?" Donnie asked.

"Nah," said Raph, who had paused his pushups. "He's gotta learn somehow."

I sighed, hopping Mikey would be alright. Then, wondering what time it was, I reached down and glanced at the watch I had around my neck. A few days ago I was wondering the sewers, and I found a small watch without a leather wristband. Surprisingly, it was still working. I had taken it home, tied a string around it, and had worn it around my neck since. The time read 6:35. I was suppose to meet Vanessa and her friend in and hour.

"Well, Mikey's left, now I have to go as well," I said as I stood up. "I'll see you guys later, okay?"

"Bye."

"See yah."

I turned and started to walk out of the pit that consisted of our living room.

"Lavinia."

I stopped and turned. Master Splinter was there, walking towards me.

"Hey, Sensei," I said. "I was just about to leave to meet up with Vanessa."

"Yes, I am aware," he looked down at me. "You should know that I'm not fully convinced you should go up there."

I frowned, feeling worried. "But, Sensei, you said I could go."

"I know, Lavinia. And I have no intension of going back on my word. I am simply warning you that anything could happen, and you must be prepared."

"Don't worry, Sensei," I said, and I reached inside the pocket of my hoodie to reveal my tessen. "I've got my tessen with me just in case something does happen. I'll be fine, I promise."

Splinter nodded his head, and smiled at me.

"Very well," he said. "Be safe, my daughter, and have fun."

I beamed. "Thanks, Sensei!"

And without another word I turned and left the lair.

* * *

><p><em>Man, this park is beautiful, <em>I thought to myself. I was currently on my way to where Vanessa told me to go. She said that I should meet her at a monument known as "Rat Rock." I looked it up on Donnie's laptop, and found that it wasn't that hard to find. I was just taking my time because the park was so beautiful, even as the sun started to set.

After a while I finally managed to find "Rat Rock." I glanced at the huge rock for a moment before I noticed two figures standing in front of it. One of them was very familiar.

"Vanessa?" I called out.

One of the figures turned, and I heard a girlish squeal.

"Nia!"

Vanessa turned and sprinted over to me as I continued walking forward. She ran up to me and stopped right in front of me.

"Oh, I'm so glad you could come!" she said happily. "We just got here a couple minutes ago."

"Glad I caught you," I said. "So, who's this friend of yours then?"

"Come on!"

Vanessa grabbed my wrist and started dragging forward toward the rock, where her friend was still standing. Now, I had expected to see young girl, one who was as bright and bubbly as Vanessa was. What I didn't expect to see was a tall, slightly bulky young boy with brown hair and bright green eyes. He also appeared to be a little older than me.

"Nia," Vanessa stopped walking and gestured to the boy. "This is my best friend, Angus Carnell. Angus, this is the girl from last night that I told you about. The one who found my cat."

I grinned as I held out my hand. The boy smiled at me, showing off his very white, even teeth. He took a few steps forward and held out his hand.

"Nice to meet yah," he said.

I blinked, surprised at how… country his voice was. No way he was a true New Yorker!

"Nice meeting you too," I said as I lowered my hand.

"We brought some pizza from Antonio's," said Vanessa. "Let's eat, shall we?"

We all walked over to where they had left the pizza and sat down around the box. Angus took out a piece and handed it to me.

"Thanks," I told him.

"Nessy says that you're new 'round 'ere," he said as he grabbed his own slice. "Said yah just moved in with your family."

_I guess 'Nessy' is short for Vanessa, _I thought.

"Yep. Moved in a couple of weeks ago," I said.

_That's it, Nia, stick to your story. _I took a bit of my pizza slice as the other two started to eat. After a few seconds I decided to speak.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, are new here too?" I asked Angus.

"Not really. Why?"

"Well," I shrugged. "You don't exactly sound like you're from Brooklyn."

Angus snorted. "It's the accent, ain't it?"

I shrugged sheepishly.

"Well, you're right. I wasn't born here. I was born and raised in Montana."

"He moved into the city two years ago," said Vanessa.

"Why'd you move here?" I asked.

"My mama's a lawyer," he said. "Two years ago, when I was 15, she got a job offer she couldn't refuse. Caused us to move to New York. Been livin' here since."

I nodded. "So, you know what it's like to be new here then?"

"Yeah, but it ain't so bad. 'Specially if yah make a friend in the first week."

Angus smiled at Vanessa, who had just taken another bite of her pizza.

"Mhm!" she quickly swallowed her piece. "Me and Angus met at school about a week after he moved in. It was lunch time, and he was just wondering around the cafeteria with nowhere to sit. Looked like a lost little boy."

I giggled as Angus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I guess you could say Nessy was my savin' grace. She called me over to her table, and like the sweetheart she is, she let me sit with her and her friends."

"We've known each other ever since," said Vanessa.

"Cool."

We all stopped talking for a bit as we ate more of our pizza. I munched on my slice, feeling happy that I was having a surprisingly good time.

"So, what about you?" Angus asked. "What's your story?"

I shrugged. "Not much to say. I guess my family just felt like moving."

"Didn't you say you had four brothers?" Vanessa asked.

"Yep," I grinned. "Four overly excited, very protective brothers. Do you guys have any?"

"I have one little brother," said Vanessa. "His name's Colton. He's only five, but he can still be a pain in the butt."

I chuckled. "What about you, Angus?"

He shook his head. "Nah. None yet. I think my folks are tryin' to have another though. I see the way my mama looks at kids in the park, and I can tell she wants one."

I smiled. "That sounds lovely."

"Yeah. Yah know, if they have one, I'd like to have a lil' sister," Angus smiled. "I could even teach her how to play."

I raised my eyebrow. "Play?"

"Oh, yeah!" Vanessa piped up. "Didn't I tell you? Angus plays guitar!"

I blinked. "R-really?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Been playing since I was nine."

I stared at him, hardly able to believe it. Not only did I just make two new friends, but one of them actually played guitar like me!

"What is it, Nia?" asked Vanessa.

"Nothing," I said. "It's just… I play guitar, too!"

Angus and Vanessa stared at me, looking just as surprised as I was.

"Really?" Vanessa grinned. "That's awesome!"

"You're a player?" Angus asked.

"Yep. I've been playing since I was eleven," I said. "My dad taught me how to play."

Angus rubbed his chin. "Yah know… I play my guitar in this spot just about everyday. If yah wanna come by and play with me, yah can."

I paused on my way to take another bite of pizza, and stared at him. Was he really inviting me to come play with him? Was he really?

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, I'd like that."

* * *

><p>The next night me and the guys we went back to the place where we were ambushed by the ninjas. Leo figured it was best to scope the place out and find out how the dudes were able to ambush us.<p>

"They must've been watching us from here," said Leo he observed the alley below. "The perfect place to stage an ambush."

"That wasn't very fair, was it?" said Donnie.

I shook my head. "Not at all."

"It's not about fairness," Leo said firmly. "It's about victory."

I stared at him as Donnie held his hands up defensively.

"Okay, I'm _sorry_."

I rolled my eyes as I turned to look at Raph and Mikey. The younger one was still going on about how much fun he had with Chris Bradford. How Mikey even managed to meet that guy, I'll never know.

"And then, Chris Bradford put on his hakama!" Mikey said excitedly. "_Man_, that guy can rock a hakama!"

Raph groaned irritably. "Yeah, maybe he'll wear it again when he takes you to prom," he turned his head and smirked at me. "Then maybe you two can double-date with Nia and _Angus._"

I groaned. "Raph, please don't start…"

That's another thing that's been going on. See, after I got home last night the guys all asked me how it went. Like me, they thought that Vanessa's friend was a girl, and they were all shocked to find out that it was a boy. They were surprised even more when I told them that he played guitar just like me. When I told them how Angus invited me to play in the park with him however, their expressions all changed. I swear, they all had on the biggest smirks I had ever seen them have, and they have been teasing me nonstop since.

"Anyways! Where was I?" Mikey continued, oblivious to me and Raph. "And then, after that, he-!"

"Aw, _enough_!" Raph finally snapped. "You've been going on about his for _three hours_!"

Mikey smirked as he got into his older brother's face. "Ooh, someone sounds jealous… You just can't admit that you were the R word!"

Me and Raph stared at him. Even Leo and Donnie turned to look at the younger sibling.

"The R word…?" I asked unsurely.

"_Wrong_!" Mikey said simply.

I sighed as all of the boys groaned with irritation. Raph huffed.

"I'm not wrong!"

"Oh yeah? If _you _don't wanna talk about my friend…" Mikey jumped over to me and the others. "I've got two other brothers and one sis who _do_."

"Actually, I'd rather talk about _anything else_," said Leo.

"Like the concept of the silent W, perhaps?" Donnie suggested.

Mikey looked over at me, waiting for a response. I bit my lip as I shuffled my feet.

"Well… no offense Mikey," I started. "But you've been talking about Bradford since you got home last night. I think I've heard enough."

Mikey's face fell. "Fine. Heh… I'll go talk to a guy who likes to talk about Chris Bradford more than anyone else. Chris Bradford."

"Mikey…"

But he ignored me, and jumped off the building and left.

"He ditched us," I said skeptically.

"Eh, let him leave," said Raph. "More peace and quiet for us."

"Yeah, I suppose."

I sighed as I walked over and sat next to Raph. He nudged my shoulder.

"So, when are yah gonna introduce us to your _boyfriend_?"

"Enough, Raphael!"

* * *

><p>I had no idea what to expect when Mikey got home that night. But him bursting in saying that Chris Bradford had shown him <em>The Death Dragon<em> kata wasn't on the list. Nevertheless, it was pretty awesome seeing Mikey show it to us.

"And then he kicks…! He twists…! And…sweeps the leg…! Ha!"

Mikey spun, kicked, and did everything that he said. Me and the boys stared at him, very much impressed. Well, except for Raph.

"_The Death Dragon_!" Mikey said excitedly.

"Mikey…that is so wicked!" I exclaimed.

"That was amazing!" said Leo.

"Yeah," Donnie said thoughtfully. "It's devastatingly effective and… complex."

"And yet, even Mikey can learn it," Raph pointed out.

Mikey bowed. "Thank you," but then he seemed to get what Raph was saying, and frowned. "Hey!"

But at that moment, Donnie's laptop made a loud _bleep_, gathering Mikey's attention. He looked over his shoulder.

"It's Rad-Brad!" he said as he knelt in front of the laptop. "That's my little name for him."

"What did he say?" I asked as I looked over Mikey's shoulder to look at the screen.

"He wants to get to together for a little B-ball," Mikey looked excited. "I can't wait to find out what the B stands for!"

I raised my brow. "Last I checked, it meant basketball."

Mikey didn't answer me. Instead he typed in a reply, hit send, and stood up.

"You're going now?" Leo asked.

"Sorry dudes! Human friend stuff," Mikey shrugged. "You know how it is. Oh, wait… No, yah don't."

Mikey smirked at us before turning around and walking out.

"Snobbish much?" I grumbled.

"Tell me about it," Raph said, and he stood up straight. "Well, I'm wanting to try that kata. Who's in?"

"Me!" said Leo.

"You guys have fun," I said. "I'll be right back."

I left the boys in the lair and headed for the kitchen. Once there I grabbed a cup and filled it with water.

"Lavinia."

I paused my drinking and looked around. Splinter was standing by the table, looking as though he were observing.

"Oh, hey Sensei," I said. "Are you looking for Mikey? He just left to go meet Bradford."

"Yes, he told me just before he left," said Sensei. "It seems that he is not the only one having fun with new friends. Your brothers tell me that you had fun the other night with your new friend. Vanessa, wasn't it?"

"Yep. She's so nice, and totally cool, Sensei. Her friend was, too."

"Who was her friend?"

"A really awesome dude," I took a sip from my glass. "His name's Angus. Oh, and guess what? He plays guitar too!"

"Does he?" Sensei asked, sounding interested.

"Yeah. He plays in Central Park almost every other day. He even invited me to come and play with him sometime," I bit my lip and shuffled my feet. "Would…would that be alright, Sensei?"

Sensei closed his eyes, stroking his long beard slowly. I swallowed as I waited for his answer. _C'mon, please say yes…_

"Very well," he said finally.

I released the small breath I didn't realize I had been holding.

"Thank you, Sensei."

Splinter smiled at me, apparently pleased. Then he looked over his shoulder.

"Where are your other brothers, Lavinia?"

"Oh, they're in the dojo," I said. "Mikey's new friend showed him this awesome kata, and the boys are trying it out right now. You wanna see?"

"Hm…Why not?"

I smiled and put my glass on the counter. I walked out of the kitchen and Sensei followed me to the dojo.

"Just you wait, Sensei," I told him. "This kata is the most wicked thing I've ever seen. You might even be impressed."

Splinter chuckled. "We shall see, Lavinia."

Curious to know if the boys had managed to get the kata right yet, I went ahead and entered the dojo.

"Wait! I think I got it!" I heard Leo say.

Leo and Raph faced each other. They went at each other just as Sensei entered the dojo, and Leo succeeded the kata. I glanced over at Splinter, but I was surprised. Sensei looked as though he had seen a ghost. A second later his face fell, and it was full of anger.

"_Where did you learn_ _that?_" he snapped.

I cringed. The boys froze and turned to look at Splinter.

"Mikey learned it from his new friend," Leo explained.

"The man who taught him that kata is no friend," Splinter said firmly. "It comes from the Shredder."

I gasped. _What?!_

"Shredder?" Donnie breathed.

"You mean… Bradford is one of his students?" Leo asked.

Splinter nodded. "He _must_ be."

"So, Bradford is just _pretending _to be Mikey's friend to get to _you_," Leo said slowly.

"Oh, what a relief," Raph sighed. "Everything makes sense again."

I turned to stare at him. Raph paused for a moment, then his eyes widened.

"Mikey's in trouble!"

* * *

><p>It wasn't that hard to find Bradford's dojo. Me and my bros were in full stealth mood the whole time we where there. I went to the roof first, landing neatly by the dojo skylight. I quickly walked up to it and looked inside. Mikey was in there all right, and he was tied up with his hands in feet behind his back.<p>

"Mikey…"

I turned around, cupped my hands around my mouth, and did a quiet, but decent bird call. A second later I saw Raph swing around the water tower, slide down the latter, and run up to the end of the skylight that I was on. He leaned against the glass and folded his arms. I looked up to see Leo sliding down the glass and landing on the roof. He ran over to where me and Raph where, and folded his arms too. They bumped fists, and wiggled their fingers together. Donnie slide down the glass and landed next to us, too.

"You got the gum, right?" I asked him.

He grinned at me as he continuously chewed on a piece of gum. _I guess that's a yes._ Donnie blew a bubble, popped it, and took it out. He placed the sticky wad on the end of a pencil that was attached to a compass. He placed the gum-covered pencil on the glass, turned the compass, and lightly punched the glass. A perfect circle popped out and Donnie moved it out of the way. He reached inside for a moment before he finally unlocked the skylight.

Me and Leo slowly opened the skylight door. We all took out the ropes we brought, slide them inside, and one by one, we each went down a rope. The second we hit the floor we sprinted towards the ninjas that were guarding Mikey. I ran up to the nearest ninja, and slide forward with my leg out the trip him. He fell to the floor and punched him to make sure he was unconscious. When he didn't move I stood up and saw that my bros had taken care of the other three ninjas.

"Dudes!" Mikey exclaimed. "That was sporadic!"

"Shh!" me, Leo and Raph hissed.

"That's not what that means," Donnie whispered.

Leo kneeled in front of Mikey, took out a tanto blade, and used it to cut Mikey's binds. Mikey sat up, and Leo patted his head.

"You okay, bro?" I asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Good," I said. "Then let's get out of here."

With that said and done, we finally left the dojo. Leo was taking the manhole cover off when I froze.

"Guys," I whispered. "I think… someone's watching us."

They all froze as well. Then Leo continued to move the cover.

"Stay in stealth," he whispered. "Don't go straight to the lair. As soon as we're in, find somewhere to hide and wait. You'll know what to do."

We nodded. One by one, we all jumped through the hole and into the sewers. We all quickly found a place to hide in the shadows, and waited.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, Bradford and a large group of ninjas showed up. With them was a man I had never seen before. It was a tall, thin black guy with and afro. I had no idea who he was, but he was obviously working with Bradford.

I crouched lower into the shadows as Bradford and his friend passed by. When the ninjas passed by however, I would reach out and snatch them, then I would knock them out. I watched silently as I saw my bros do the same thing, taking the ninjas one by one. Oblivious to the disappearing ninjas, Bradford and his friend continued to head for the sewer clearing. Slowly and stealthily, me and my bros followed.

Finally, the last ninja was snatched, and Bradford and the afro dude finally turned. Judging by the looks on their faces, they seemed to have just realized that something was up. The afro dude took out a flare and lit it up. It lit the room up enough for them to see their party of ninjas hanging from ropes on the ceiling.

"Show your faces!" the afro dude said in a thick, Brazilian accent.

There was a pause. From here I could see Leo and Raph's shells poke out of the water. They swam up to the center of the pool before standing up, glaring at Bradford and the afro dude. Me, Mikey and Donnie emerged from the darkness and walked towards them from behind.

"They've trapped us!" the afro dude exclaimed.

"Take 'em down!" Bradford ordered.

And the fight started. Bradford went for Leo and Raph while the afro dude headed for me and the other two. Donnie tried to fight him first, swinging his Bo staff at him. The dude did a hand stand and lifted his legs up, blocking all of Donnie's blows with his feet. Donnie tried to swing again, but the dude pushed himself up into the air. His feet landed around Donnie's neck, and he used his legs to flip Donnie over. Donnie was tossed to the side, landing on top of Mikey. I stood in front of Mikey and Donnie, holding my tessen out in defense. The afro dude smirked at me.

"Interesting," he growled. "Bradford mentioned the four freaks, but he never said they had a friend who was so… pretty."

The look on his face made me want to puke. I let out a noise of annoyance. From behind me I heard Donnie snap his fingers. _Time for the plan. _Without hesitation, I ran at the afro man for my attack. I made an effort to his him with the end of my tessen, but he managed to grab my wrist. He tried to punch my gut, but I shifted aside, and kneed him in his chest. He let go of my wrist and I retreated back towards my younger bros. The afro dude ran at us, but me and the boys ran at the wall, climbed up, and flipped so that we were now behind the dude. We ran backwards into the water, our opponents following us, we switched up with Leo and Raph. They now had the afro dude, and me and the others had Bradford.

Me and the other two continued to back up, and slid under a large sewer pipe, causing the punch Bradford tried to deliver to hit the said pipe. Mikey jumped onto the pipe, and Bradford tried to punch him in the chest. But Mikey wrapped the chain of his nunchuck around Bradford's wrist and jumped down behind the pipe, leaving the fist useless. Donnie stuck his staff underneath the pipe and hit Bradford's legs, causing the man to fall to his knees. Before he could really do anything much I reached forward and punched him in the face.

Bradford slipped out of Mikey's hold and started to back up. Mikey walked towards him, whirling his nunchuck. They continued until he was back to back with the afro dude, and they were both standing in front of the large sewer tunnel.

"They knew we were following them!" said Bradford.

"That's right," Mikey said smugly.

Bradford growled, then yelled as he went to throw a punch at Mikey. Mikey blocked it, then blocked another. I stared openmouthed as I watched the fight continued. Mikey was beating Bradford, and was using the dude's own kata! _Awesome_!

"And sweep the leg!" Mikey said as he finished the kata, and knocked Bradford over.

The man yelled as he fell back and landed on top of the afro dude.

"Hit it!" Mikey yelled.

I looked over at the opposite edge of the sewer clearing, and saw Donnie and Leo standing there. They turned the wheel, and there was a loud rumble from the large sewer pipe. Bradford and the afro guy screamed as a wave of raw sewage came rushing out of the large pipe, flushing them away.

"Well," Raph smirked. "That didn't seem very fair."

"It wasn't," said Leo.

We looked at each other, and we all started laughing.

"High-three!" cried Mikey.

We all raised our hands and they met in a high-three.

* * *

><p>At long last, we were home. And, as expected, we were celebrating with a large order of delicious pizza. I was sitting on the floor eating one of my two slices, when I noticed something odd. Sensei wasn't eating. Donnie seemed to have noticed this, too.<p>

"Um… Sensei? Aren't you hungry?" he asked.

Splinter didn't say anything at first. He sat there, stroking his beard.

"I fear we are celebrating too soon," he said lowly.

"Too soon?" asked Raph. "The bad guys were swept away in a river of raw sewage. By my watch, that's the perfect time."

I had a feeling that that wasn't going to convince Splinter. Sensei stood up, walking towards us.

"Shredder knows I'm alive. And worse, he knows about all of you," he turned his head. "It's my worse nightmare come true."

"So, it's not over?" Leo asked.

Sensei shook his head. "Oh, no… It's just beginning."

We all stared at our sensei, then we hung our heads.

"Well, this is just great," I grumbled, and when I glanced up I saw we were missing and orange-banded turtle. "Hey, where's Mikey?"

"He's over there," Donnie said, pointing in a direction.

I turned my head, and I saw Mikey on the other side of the pit. He was sitting on the floor, looking at the laptop that was sitting on the couch. I looked at him sadly. _Poor boy… _Making my decision, I picked a piece of pizza, stood up, and walked over to where Mikey was sitting.

"Mikey…" I spoke gently. "You're missing out on some totally awesome pizza…"

Mikey turned his head to look up at me, and he had a sad look on his face.

"No thanks," he said lowly.

I frowned. I glanced at the computer, and saw it was the site where he sent his friend request to Bradford. I heard footsteps, and I saw Raph walk up and sit on the couch next to the laptop.

"How yah doin', Mikey?"

Mikey turned to face his older brother. "This is all my fault. I should've never thought I could be friends with a human."

"Aw, Mikey, don't say that," I said, patting his shell.

"Yeah, don't be so hard on yourself," said Raph.

"So, it's not my fault?"

Raph stared. "Of course it's your fault!"

Mikey sighed. Raph looked at Mikey, then at me, and leaned in towards his brother.

"If you tell the others, I'll beat the green off you," he threatened, but his face softened as he put a hand on Mikey's shell. "But… you're an awesome guy."

"Bradford didn't think so."

Raph shrugged. "Eh… he's a psychotic, killing machine."

"Who kidnapped you, and tried to kill us," I added. "You're better off without him."

"Nia's right," Raph folded his arms. "You deserve _way_ better friends than him."

Mikey glanced at the floor. "You know what… you're right!" he looked up at us. "Thanks, guys."

"Anytime," Raph said, patting Mikey's head.

Raph stood up on his feet and started to leave, but stopped. He turned to look at me, and smirked.

"That bit about not telling the others what I said," he told me. "That goes for you, too."

I giggled. "Scout's Honor, Raphie," I vowed mockingly, lifting my hand up.

Raph chuckled as he rolled his eyes, and then walked away. I smiled after him as I turned to look down at Mikey.

"You good, bro?"

"Just a sec!"

Mikey turned to look at the computer screen. Then he lifted his hand up, brought it down, and pressed a button on the keyboard.

"_Unfriend!_" he declared. "Ha ha! Revenge!"

I rolled my eyes. _Well, at least he's happy again._

"Here you go, Mikey," I handed him the pizza slice. "A good ol' slice of revenge pizze, specially made."

"Awesome!"

Mikey grabbed the pizza, and shoved have of it into his mouth.

"Thanks, Nia!" he said through his full mouth.

I laughed. "No problem, bro."


	10. I Think His Name Is Baxter Stockman

Ch. 5  
>I Think His Name Is Baxter Stockman<p>

_Relax, Nia, _I told myself. _It's meditation for Christ's sake. It's suppose to be a calming experience. Just stay focused… Did I just hear something?_

"You're not focused, Lavinia."

I opened my eyes to look at Sensei. He was sitting across from me, his legs crossed over, already in his deep meditation position.

"Sorry, Sensei," I said sheepishly.

Splinter looked down at me. "What troubles you, my child?"

I sighed. "I don't know. I just can't seem to focus lately. It's like every little thing or noise just captures my attention, and I don't know why."

Sensei closed his eyes, stroking his beard. "Hm… It is possible that your senses are becoming more adapted to your surroundings, therefore, it is able to sense even the smallest noise or movement. These things tend to happen as you grow older. But, you must learn to block out all distractions as this continues, and remain focused on the task at hand."

I nodded. "Hai, Sensei."

He smiled. "Again."

I nodded. I closed my eyes, inhaled slowly through my nose, and slowly back out. _Okay… don't get distracted… clear your mind… focus… focus…_

Suddenly there was a loud yell from the other room. I gasped and opened my eyes, and so did Sensei. We both turned to face the exit of the dojo. Whatever the boys were up to, it was causing a lot of noise. I glanced over at Sensei, and I could see clear annoyance on his face.

"Uh… hold on, Sensei!" I said as I quickly got to my feet. "I'm just gonna… um… yeah."

I turned on my heel and sprinted out of the dojo. _Damn it, guys! What are you up to now? _I walked into the living room, and froze. The place was a complete wreck. Soda cans and empty pizza boxes scattered the floor, some of the boxes having a pizza slice hanging out of them. Right in the center of the room was what looked like a huge makeshift ramp. At the end was Raph, Donnie, and Leo, all crouched on the floor in a row. At the top of the ramp was Mikey, skateboard in hand, and a smile on his face.

"And now, The Kid goes for the world record!" Mikey yelled. "He will attempt to jump three mutant turtles!"

"I can't believe he talked us into this," I heard Raph growl.

I let out an irritated groan as I shook my head.

"Guys! I just cleaned this place last night!"

They all turned to look at me, shocked expressions on their faces.

"H-hey, Nia," Donnie said nervously. "Um, sorry about the mess."

"What the heck are you doing?!" I hissed.

"Mikey's doing skate tricks," said Leo.

"We, on the other hand, are pretending to be road kill," said Raph.

I groaned. "Guys, Splinter is right in the other room. If he sees you, you're dead!"

"Relax, Nia!" Mikey put his skateboard into position at his feet. "We'll fine!"

I shook my head. "Mikey, don't-!"

"BOOYAKASHA!"

Before I could say more Mikey leaped onto his board. He sped down the ramp, and I started to back up from fear of being hit.

"What is going on in here?!"

I gasped, and turned around. Master Splinter was standing there, a look of anger on his face.

"Sensei!" Leo called fearfully.

I turned my head around in time to see Mikey crash into the others, who had all stood up when Sensei had yelled. I looked up and saw that Mikey's skateboard had flown off and was heading right for me. I gasped and held my arms up to keep it from hitting my face. But it didn't hit me at all. I opened my eyes and saw Sensei holding the skateboard in front of my face. He had stopped it. He threw the skateboard on the ground as he marched over to his sons, who were still laying in a pile on the ground.

"How many times have I told you _not _to skateboard in the lair?"

"None, Sensei…" Mikey said lowly.

"I shouldn't _have_ to tell you!" Splinter snapped.

All of the boys got off of each other and quickly got up to their feet.

"You're right, Sensei," Leo said as he and the others glared at Mikey. "We _definitely _should've known better, and we deserve to be punished… some," he added quickly.

Sensei stroked his beard musingly, narrowing his eyes towards his sons.

"Lavinia."

I straightened up as I walked up next to Splinter.

"Yes, Sensei?"

"Seeing as how you were the only one who did not participate in this foolishness, you should be the one to give your brothers a fitting punishment."

I blinked. _Is he serious?_

"Wha…I…"

I didn't know what to say. I glanced over at the boys. Raph was pretending to read a comic, Donnie was whistling casually, Mikey was examining his fingers, and Leo was giving me a 'help us out' sort of look. I gulped. _Jesus, why me?_

"Well…this room is a complete wreck," I said finally. "So, obviously, they should clean up the mess."

I glanced up at Sensei, who had his arms folded, waiting for more. _Okay, think! Something that's not weak, but not too strong._

"And… they shouldn't be allowed… to go to the surface," I said. "For tonight."

The boys stared at me, looking slightly relieved. Splinter, however, still appeared to be waiting for more.

"And…tomorrow night?" I asked, hopefully.

Sensei closed his eyes. "Hm… very fitting."

I sighed. _Thank God…_

"But not fitting enough," Splinter turned to look at his sons. "What about being grounded for a week?"

I blinked. _Seriously? _It seemed that the boys were thinking the same thing, because they all shook their heads.

"Oh on, I don't think that's…"

"I'm cool with just two days."

"Really, that's not necessary."

"Yeah, maybe next time."

I shook my head. _Should've kept your mouth shut, boys._

"You're grounded for a week!" Sensei declared.

"Aww…!" the boys groaned in unison.

There was a creaking sound, and suddenly the makeshift ramp leaned over and collapsed to the floor in a puff of dust. The boys all flinched, then stiffened.

"And you will clean up your mess!" Sensei added sharply.

Folding his hands behind his back, Splinter turned and started to head for the dojo.

"Lavinia," he said. "Come. We must resume your meditation section."

"Hai, Sensei."

I glanced over at the boys, who all looked miserable.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. "I really tried, but…"

"It's okay," said Leo. "Don't worry about it. He probably would've made it worse if you hadn't given us two days."

"Yeah, don't blame yourself, Nia," said Donnie.

"Besides, it's Mikey's fault," Raph pointed out.

Mikey glared. "Hey!"

"Lavinia, come," I heard Splinter repeat.

"Coming!"

And, giving my bros one last sad look, I turned and followed Sensei back to the dojo.

* * *

><p>Despite the face that I wasn't punished, I didn't feel right going up to the surface without any of my bros. So, out of the goodness of my heart, I chose to stay in the sewers with them. But, I'll admit, I never realized how boring it could get now that we knew we could have some real fun on the surface.<p>

I sprawled on my back on the floor behind Leo, who was sitting on the couch. Mikey was sitting next to me, reading a comic. I was leaning next to him, reading the comic along with him. Raph was pacing in front of the couch, groaning with aggravation.

"Gah! This bites!" he snapped. "I can't believe we're stuck down here for a whole week!"

"Well," I propped myself up on my elbows. "Maybe if you guys didn't make a mess of the place, we'd all be out on the surface right now."

"But it was Mikey's fault!" said Raph.

"Hey!"

"Shut it, Mikey," said Leo.

"Guys, guys!" Donnie said excitedly as he ran into the room. "You wanna see what I made?"

Raph gestured to Donnie. "_This _is how board I am," he looked at his younger brother. "Yes, Donnie. I _do_."

"Okay! Okay, okay… Remember, the other day, I was scrounging in that military junkyard?"

Leo, Raph, and Mikey all shook their heads and said, "no." But I nodded and said, "yes." The three boys turned, staring at me.

"What?" I shrugged. "He told me where he was going."

"Well," Donnie continued. "I found an incredibly advanced AI microchip made from… heheh, get this! Self-assembled, chain-linked copolymers!"

We all blinked, staring at him.

"That's my favorite kind of copolymer!" said Mikey, but then he whispered to me, "Not really."

"_Mine too!_" Donnie was practically screaming with delight, bouncing on his toes with excitement. "And I used it to make _this_!"

Donnie reached behind him and pulled out a small, hand sized object. It was made of silver and glowing bright blue in the middle.

"The most advanced music _player in the world_!"

At once we all jumped to our feet and ran up to examine the object closer.

"Whoa…" we all breathed.

"So, who wants to try it?" Donnie asked, and he looked at me. "What about you, Nia?"

I grinned. "Sure, I-"

"Nia!" Mikey piped up. "Can I try it first? Please, please, _please_...?"

Mikey was staring up at me with his puppy, his lip puckered out. I chuckled. _How can I say no to that face?_

"Sure, Mikey."

"Sweet!" Mikey clapped his hands. "Toss me the T-Pod!"

Donnie blinked. "The…T-Pod?"

"Turtle… Pod… T-Pod," Mikey chuckled. "I am so good at naming stuff."

Donnie handed Mikey the T-Pod. Mikey took the earbuds and stuck them into his ear slits underneath his mask.

"You're really gonna plug an advanced piece of military technology directly into Mikey's head?" Raph asked Donnie. "What if it melts his brain?"

"It won't," Donnie folded his arm. "And even if it did, who'd know the difference?"

"I would," I stated.

We all remained quiet as we watched Mikey. His finger slowly lowered to the play button, and he pressed it. He then fell to his knees, reared his head back, and screamed in what appeared to be agony. It wasn't a good scream, either. It pierced my ears, making them hurt.

"Bloody hell!" I yelled as I covered my ears.

"What?! What's wrong?!" Donnie asked fearfully.

"_It's polka!_" Mikey cried. "Make it stop! _Make it stop…!_"

I stared at Mikey as Donnie walked over to him, looking annoyed. He raised his hand and pressed the next button, and Mikey's agony-filled expression faded.

"Thanks," Mike told Donnie, who rolled his eye as he walked back over to us.

Suddenly, Mikey's eyes went wide, and he sighed with relief and satisfaction. Slowly, he stood up on the ground, and started busting out some moves. He moved from left to right, moving his arms and his hips. I covered my mouth, but that didn't stop me from giggling like a madwoman. I glanced over at the other three, and I saw Donnie and Leo staring in confusion. Raph looked… well, let's just say he didn't look amused in any way. When he next spoke, his voice practically scream, "I give up."

"That's it. I gotta get outta here."

"Where are you going?" Leo asked, following his brother. "We're grounded."

"I don't care! I gotta get out of here or I'm gonna go nuts!" Raph stomped on his skateboard, which was launched into the air, and he caught it. "Let's find a skate spot."

"Skate spot?" Mikey yelled over his music. "I'm totally in!"

"But what's Splinter gonna say?" Leo asked.

"I don't know what's going on, because they snuck out while I was asleep!" Raph said, mimicking Splinter's voice.

I giggled as Leo snorted.

"Real mature," he folded his arms. "But I'm your leader. And as your leader, I say nobody's going."

But I had a feeling Leo's words didn't mean anything to the boys. The fact that Donnie and Mikey walked up to stand next to Raph didn't help his case, either.

"Well, as your followers, we're going anyway," Raph said bluntly.

Leo turned to look at me. "A little help?"

"Pff! I'm a neutral party, dude," I raised my hands up in surrender. "I go where everyone else goes. And it looks like were going skateboarding."

Raph smirked. "See? You're out numbered, Leo."

"Well, as your leader…" Leo paused, looking conflicted. "…I'm going with you… to lead you… away… from bad… stuff…"

I snorted. "Nice leadership, dude."

Suddenly Mikey screamed and collapsed on the floor.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked.

"It's back to _polka_!" Mikey whined, then he frowned at Donnie. "You gotta get some more tunes on this!"

* * *

><p>One thing I always loved doing with my bros; skateboarding. Ever since we even found out what skateboarding was, me and the guys have loved it. Out of the five of us, Mikey was the real skating king of the group, but we were all very good at it. And my skateboard is so cool! It was solid black, had a blue and green butterfly on it, along with a few heart-shaped music notes all over it.<p>

We were all running across the rooftops, our skateboards strapped to our backs. Well, all of us, except for Mikey. He was currently skateboarding across the rooftops, while listening to the T-Pod. I knew that he knew what he was doing, but that didn't stop me from looking behind my shoulder to make sure he was okay.

"Hey, Donnie!" Mikey shouted below to a lower rooftop, where the other three boys were running. "Thanks for all the new songs!"

"Wait… What new songs?" Donnie asked.

"Keep it down, you guys!" Leo hissed.

As expected, none of us responded to him. Donnie jumped up, landing in a handstand on Mikey's shoulders. He squinted down at the T-Pod, and stared.

"What the…?"

"What's wrong, D?" I asked him.

"It's the T-Pod. It's got thousands of new songs and it keeps downloading new ones every second!"

"So?" Raph asked as he jumped up to the same level as us.

"So, I didn't program it to do that!" Donnie jumped off of Mikey's shoulders and ran along side us. "It's reconfiguring itself somehow…" then he gasped. "It's that chip!"

"Whatever it is!" Mikey rode up a skylight and launched himself into the air as he shouted over his music, "It's _awesome_…!"

"Guys!" Leo hissed angrily from the lower level. "We're ninjas! Remember? We move swiftly, and- here's the important part- _silently_!"

But suddenly, Leo yelled as he accidentally ran off the building. We ran up and skidded to the edge of the building and looked down. Leo had fallen through a skylight. I heard crashes and bangs coming from the building before he fell through the far end of the skylight. He then fell over the building and fell onto the fire escape, stumbling and tumbling painfully down until he fell off the escape, and landed in a dumpster. I hissed, winching slightly. _You know that had to hurt. _All the boys flinched as well, but Raph had a gleeful smirk on his face the whole time.

"That wasn't very _silent_, Leo!" Raph called down to his brother.

After Leo was recovered from the dumpster, we continued to look for a good skate spot. After a while, we finally found a good spot just outside the TCRI facility.

"Check it out," Raph nodded at the stair and handrails.

"Let's grind it!" Mikey said excitedly.

But just as we were about to jump down there, I heard loud noises. Like banging metal.

"Who the heck is that guy?" Donnie said.

I turned my head, and saw a man walking down the street. He appeared to be wearing a pink sweater, but I could barley see it under the weird, metal armor he was wearing.

"I don't know," Raph frowned. "But he needs a beat down."

"Hold on, Raph," said Leo. "We don't know if he's gonna do anything wrong. He… he could be on his way to… church."

"Wearing powered battle armor?" Raph asked skeptically. "What kinda church is that?"

"A really _awesome_ one," said Mikey.

I shrugged. "I admit, I'd go to a church if it was that cool."

Leo face palmed. "Look, it's my call. I decide who gets a beat down."

But just as he finished speaking, we saw the man started using what looked like a built-in blowtorch on the backdoor of the TCRI building.

"That guy needs a beat down," Leo stated.

"Why am I not surprised?" I asked.

We ran up to the edge of the building and jumped down. By the time we got down the man was groaning in frustration. He seemed to be having a lot of trouble opening the door. He bent down and tried to force the door open, but to no avail.

"It's just kind of sad," Donnie said simply.

"Yeah," Mikey looked at the man sadly. "I don't know if we should pound him or buy him an ice-cream cone."

I nodded. "I could go for some ice-cream."

Leo unsheathed his katanas, point them at the man. "Halt, villain!"

The man turned, surprised. But we were too busy staring at Leo to really notice.

"_Halt, villain_?" Raph snapped. "_When_ did we start talking like that?"

Leo blinked. "We're heroes, that's… that's how heroes talk."

I sighed. "I'm pretty sure we're not _those kinds_ of heroes, Leo."

The man pointed his blowtorch at us. "You will feel the fury of my powered battle- Holy cow!" he gasped. "You guys are turtles!"

"That's right!" Leo jeered. "We're the _Turtles of Justice_!"

I face palmed. _Really, Leo? Really?_

"Wow…" Raph stared at his older brother. "I mean, just…_wow_."

The guy in the armor ignored us, and charged. I unsheathed my tessen and began to charge at the man along with the boys, but-

"_Wait!_" Mikey cried.

We all froze in mid-charge, staring at him. Mikey hummed happily as he removed his earbuds and wrapped the cord around the T-Pod. He tucked the item into his belt, took out his nunchuck. He whirled once and held both ends in his hands.

"Okay."

Mikey jumped up and leaped over the guy as he smacked his armored head with his nunchucks. Donnie rode up on his skateboard and jumped onto the guy's shoulders. He stuck his Bo staff into some wires on the helmet, and yanked them apart. He jumped off and landed back on his skateboard. Raph rode up and jumped over the guy, still on his skateboard. He used is sai to cut through more of the wirings as he landed back on the ground. I tossed my skateboard on the ground, jumped on it, and rode forward. The man tried to take a swing at me, but I ducked and swung my tessen up at his torso. It sliced through the metal front of his armor. I laughed as I jumped, flipping my skateboard, and then landing back on it.

I turned my board around and looked back at the man, and saw several pieces of his armor on the ground. Leo must've sliced them off. The man stumbled back into a door, his elbow braking through the glass. At once an alarm sounded, ringing like mad. It seemed to pierce my ears, and my head began to throb.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

The guys didn't answer immediately. Then Raph, who was standing on the dumpster, opened one of the lids, gesturing inside. He didn't have to say anything, we already knew what he meant. All four boys ran up to the man, picked him up, and started to bring him over. I held the lid of the dumpster opened as they threw him inside.

"You're not the first to ever throw me in the trash!" he yelled. "But I swear that you will be the la-"

_BAMB!_ The man was cut off as Raph slammed the lid shut. Suddenly blue and red lights began to flash.

"Aw snap! It's the popo!" Mikey shouted.

"Let's move!" said Leo.

And just like that, we were gone.

* * *

><p>I looked over the area, making sure that it was empty. I sighed as I slowly and quietly walked into the living room.<p>

"Finally," I breathed.

Just then there was the sound of turning water. I looked over to see Leo's head sticking out of the pool. He and the boys had taken the path that took them below water, while I stayed on the dry path.

"Hey, dude," I whispered as I walked up to him.

"Hey," he whispered.

He slipped out of the water just as I saw the other three swimming up.

"Alright! We made it home!" Raph said a little too loudly.

"Shh!" Leo hissed. "It's 2am!"

"And Splinter's still asleep," Mikey grinned. "This is _epic_."

"It's not epic!" Leo snapped. "It was really bad idea!"

"No it wasn't!" Raph leaped up and landed on the beanbag. "We got out there and stomped a sleaze-ball. So, what's the problem?"

I rolled my eyes. _Only you, Raph. _I glanced over at Mikey, and was surprised to see a worried expression on his face.

"You okay, Mikey?" I asked him.

"Huh? Oh!" Mikey cleared his throat. "Y-yeah! Yeah, I'm cool."

I raised my eyebrow. Then shrugged. _Eh, probably nothing._

* * *

><p>The next morning was, as we probably should've guessed, miserable. We all could barely keep our eyes open. Needless to say, it showed in our training.<p>

"Knees higher, Leonardo!" I heard Splinter snap. "Extend, Michelangelo!"

Me and Donnie faced each other, currently sparring. Or, at least, _attempting _to spar. Donnie let out a loud yawn, and then made to punch me. But it was a pathetic punch, and I slide out of the way.

"More power in your strikes, Donatello!" Splinter said.

I rubbed my eyes, trying to keep them open. I went up to Donnie, held my arms out, but I didn't really know what I was doing. Donnie grabbed my arms, and used his foot to kick my legs, knocking me to the ground.

"Defend your legs, Lavinia!"

I groaned as I reached up to grab Donnie's foot. I pulled, and he went falling. He yelped as he fell, but he ended up yawning tiredly.

"_Yame_!"

I gasped. _Oh, dear… _I quickly sat up and got in a line with the others. We all took a knee as Sensei stood before us, arms behind his back.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" he said in his 'I know exactly what you've done, so don't make it worse' voice.

"Something we _wanna _tell you?" Mikey asked. "Heh… Nope."

"You all seem tired."

_Oh great!_

"We're not!"

"Wide awake!"

"Fresh as daisies!"

"Couldn't be better!"

We paused, and waited for Mikey to add something. But instead, he let out a loud yawn, and collapsed to the floor. Sensei's eyes narrowed. Then he stood directly in front of me, and looked me dead in the eye.

"Lavinia…?"

I gulped. _He'll know if I'm lying, _I thought. _I can't lie to him. But…what about the guys? _I bit down on my lip, trying to think of something to sa y- anything to say. I stared up at Sensei, no doubt giving him my 'I'm sorry' face. I sighed, and hung my head.

"Very well," Sensei said slowly. "So you would not object to a little… Randori?"

I gasped and my head snapped up. Sensei was holding a long, wooden sword that me and my brothers knew all too well. I gulped loudly. _God, help me…_

Five large whacks later found me and my bros groaning on the floor. I was laying on my side, clutching my throbbing stomach.

"I hope you have learned, children, that truth isn't the only thing that hurts."

I curled up slightly, still holding my stomach. _Okay… we kinda deserved that… _I heard the shuffling of feet, and opened my eyes. I looked up to see Sensei standing in front of me. I groaned as I sat up as quickly as I could, rubbing my stomach gingerly.

"Loyalty is a powerful thing, Lavinia," said Splinter. "There are times when it makes you strong, but there are also times where it can cost you dearly. You must be careful where your loyalties lie. Do you understand?"

I blinked up at him. Then I hung my head shamefully.

"Hai, Sensei…"

* * *

><p>Me and Leo were currently in the living room, watching an episode of 'Space Heroes.' Sure, it wasn't my favorite, but I didn't hate it either.<p>

"_Captain Ryan! The rebellion is growing! We need to get off this planet!"_

"_No!"_

"_But Captain-"_

_Captain Ryan slapped Cranshaw._

"_I said no!"_

"We may have started this rebellion by accident," Leo recited with the cartoon. "But by the rings of Nebulan, we are going to finish it on purpose!"

"_Aye, sir!"_

Leo beamed at the screen, and I covered my mouth to hid my giggle.

"Seen this enough times there, chief?" Raph asked.

"Shhh!" Leo hissed. "This is the best part."

But suddenly the cartoon was cut off.

"_We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news!"_

"Aww…!" Leo whined.

"_We've received shocking footage of an assault on the TCRI complex in Brooklyn."_

"Leo!" I hissed. "That's the dude from last night!"

It was the same guy from last night. Except, last night, he didn't have huge, dangerous looking armor that made him ten times bigger.

"_At last! I will have my revenge!"_

"_Who… wh-who are you?"_

"_You'll never know! I'm the thing that haunts your nightmares! I'm the nameless shadow who-"_

"_Baxter?"_

"…_No."_

"_Baxter Stockman?"_

"_No!"_

"_Hey, everybody! It's Baxter Stockman!"_

"I think his name is Baxter Stockman," Raph stated.

"So much for 'the nameless shadow,'" I muttered.

"_Is this because I fired you?"_

"_That copy machine was already broken when I… I mean…" Stockman cleared his throat. "I don't know what your talking about!"_

"How did he upgrade his armor so fast?" Leo asked.

Stockman on screen yelled and appeared to have lunge for the poor soul holding the camera. When he did I ran up and quickly paused the TV. We all stared at the screen. There was no mistaking what that tiny, circular object on his chest was.

"He has the T-Pod?!" I heard Donnie snap.

I turned around. Donnie was towering over Mikey, who was looking sheepish.

"Mikey," I said slowly. "What did you do?"

"Oh, um… heheh… I might've dropped that during the fight…"

"You dropped it _during the fight_!?" Donnie bellowed. "Nice going, Mikey!"

"It's your fault!" Mikey snapped back.

"How is it _my _fault!?"

"You know I can't be trusted with nice things!"

Donnie growled at his younger brother, steam issuing out of his ears. Mikey gulped and shrunk away.

"So, the AI chip is upgrading his armor the same way it upgraded the T-Pod?" Leo asked.

"If it keeps going, there's no telling how powerful he'll get," said Donnie.

"What do we do?" I asked.

"This has gone way too far," said Leo. "We have to tell Splinter about this."

"What? That we turned some nut job into a super villain?" Raph asked. "Do you know what he'll do to us for that? I mean, he pounded us into the ground just for being _sleepy_!"

I placed my hands on my hips. "Then what exactly do you propose we do then, Raphael?"

He looked at me. "Not tell Splinter, for one!"

"And how is that suppose to help us?" I asked.

"Look, we beat Stockman once, we can beat him again," said Donnie. "We track him down, grab the T-Pod, and get back here before Splinter knows anything."

"If my opinion counts for anything," Mikey piped up. "Donnie's right."

"Hey, thanks Mikey," Donnie said sweetly, then he growled. "But it doesn't!"

"Didn't think so…"

* * *

><p>I was surprised at how easy it was for us to find Stockman. But, then again, how hard can it be to track down a 10ft tall pile of walking metal. We had managed to track him down to an abandoned warehouse. He was just sitting there, apparently trying to come up with a new name for himself.<p>

"I'm not Baxter Stockman. I am… The Baxman! No, no… I am… The Suitinator! Aw, that's _terrible_! …Captain…punch you…hard… Guh! Why is this so difficult?"

"I still kinda feel bad for him," I muttered to Raph.

"I don't," he whispered.

We all withdrew our weapons, and slowly surrounded Stockman.

"I kinda like 'The Suitinator,'" Mikey said a little too loudly.

"Shh!" we all hissed, but it was too late.

"You guys again?" Stockman snapped.

"Alright, Stockman," Leo said calmly. "Nobody wants to hurt you."

"We don't?" Raph asked, looking genuinely confused. "Did I miss a meeting?"

"Correction; Raph wants to hurt you," I said, trying sound calm as well. "But the rest of us don't wanna fight you."

"She's right," said Leo. "We just want the T-Pod."

"Give up my source of power?" Stockman growled. "Why? So you can laugh at me again? Throw me in a dumpster!?"

I gulped. _Okay, this isn't going well… _We all started to back up, but Raph growled as he stood his ground.

"Sounds good to me."

With a yell, Raph charged at Stockman first. He leaped up and went to strike from above, but Stockman lifted his robotic arm, and with a powerful whirl, Raph was thrown across the room. He smacked into the wall and fell to the ground.

"Raph!" I yelled.

I glared up at Stockman. _Okay! _Now _I wanna fight him!_ Without hesitation, me, Leo, Mikey and Donnie all charged at Stockman. But the dude just extended his robotic arms and slammed both Mikey and Donnie into the wall. Leo continued on and charged from the front, running up the long arm. He jumped up, swung his swords down, and sliced his robotic arms off. I jumped up and landed above Stockman's head. I jumped again, spun in the air, and managed to get a few good kicks to his face. I landed back on the ground and stood before the robotic man.

The spots where Stockman's elongated arms once were, they were now replaced by very large hands. Then, from behind me, I heard a small whirl. I turned around and saw that the remains of Stockman's previous arms had become a little robot.

"Leo, watch it-!"

Too late. The little sucker had jumped up and landed on Leo's head. Or, rather, put itself on Leo's head like hat. Before I could do anything Leo started running around, screaming in panic. I glared up at Stockman, who was laughing at what was happening.

"You… you little…!"

I growled as I ran up and threw my tessen at his head. He gasped, and ducked just in time. The weapons spun around and headed back towards me. I reached up and grabbed it in time. Then Stockman threw both of this large arms down at me, but I jumped out of the way. I landed back on the ground, but this time he managed to just graze me with his metal arm. I tripped and fell on the ground. My tessen slide away, far out of reached. I looked up and saw Stockman raising is arms again.

"Hey, Stockman!"

I turned to see Mikey leaping over and landing in front of Stockman, nunchucks whirling.

"Back off my sister!"

I quickly got to my feet and ran over to retrieve my tessen. I grabbed it and turned around. Mikey's kusarigama chain was wrapped around Stockman, holding his metal arms down. For a moment it looked as though Mikey had the upper hand. Then Stockman straightened up and started spinning around. Mikey, who was still holding the chain, was whipped around along with Stockman. I let out yell as I flung my tessen forward as hard as I could. The fan flew forward, and with a loud _clang_, it sliced through the chain. Mikey fell to the ground and slid on his shell. He said up and beamed at me as I caught my tessen.

"Thanks, Nia!"

But before I could answer one of Stockman's large hands ramped into me. It knocked me off of my feet and I slammed into the opposite wall. I couched. The wind was completely knocked out of me. Suddenly Stockman grabbed me by one of my ankles and hoisted me up. I nearly dropped my tessen as he lifted me into the air. I glanced around just enough to see all four of the guys standing in front of Stockman.

And they looked _pissed_!

They all withdrew their weapons and ran up to Stockman. Leo and Donnie tried to go for his head, but Stockman simply knocked them out of the way with his arm. Mikey threw his chain up and wrapped it around the arm that was holding me, and pulled it down. Then Raph jumped up and drove his sais into Stockman's robotic hand. Sparks flew out as the metal claws finally let go of me. I yelped as I began to fall, but Mikey caught me before I hit the floor.

"Thanks, Mikey!"

"No prob, dudette!"

I stood up on my feet as Raph jumped back down and landed beside us. Donnie came up, and his nagnita blade shot out of his Bo staff. But just as he lunged it forward Stockman grabbed it and crushed the entire end of the stick.

"Hey!" Donnie snapped.

He backflipped out of the way. Stockman stomped forward. Donnie tossed the remainder of his staff away, holding his fists up. We charged at Stockman, and he charged at us.

I don't necessarily recall what happened after that, but I'm sure I don't to know. All I remember is this; one second we were fighting Stockman, and the next we were thrown into a dumpster.

"That hurt…" I groaned.

"Foolish ones!" Stockman bellowed. "Did you really thing you could defeat me?"

"Well, yeah!" Mikey spoke in a voice that said, 'duh.'

"All my life, people have laughed at me," Stockman growled. "The other kids at school, my coworkers, the woman who fixes the copy machine… How was I suppose to know you don't pour toner in the top? But when they behold the power of this suit, they won't be laughing anymore! They'll tremble in terror…!"

There was a flash of red light, and suddenly Stockman looked a lot bigger, and a lot more dangerous!

"What's happening?" Leo asked.

"Stockman and the T-Pod…" Donnie breathed. "They're… merging… they're becoming one, single entity…"

"The Stockman-Pod…" Mikey said lowly.

"Guys," I said fearfully. "I'm pretty sure I don't have to say this, but… SCRAM!"

They didn't need to be told twice. We all quickly scurried out of the dumpster and ran into the street, screaming for our lives.

"The Stockman-Pod's right on top of us!" Mikey yelled.

"Stop calling him that! That's a stupid name!" Raph snapped.

"Split up!" Leo ordered. "He can't follow us all!"

"No way!" Mikey yelled. "He's gonna follow _me_!"

"Why would he follow you?" Leo asked.

"They _always _follow me!"

"Stop being paranoid and just do it!"

And so we did. One by one, we each went to a different alley. Raph went to one, Donnie went to a second, and Leo went to a third. I almost went to my own when I heard Mikey scream.

"_Ahh!_ I told you he was gonna follow me!"

I growled. "Oh no, you don't!"

I took out my tessen and sprinted into the alley that Stockman had chased Mikey into. I followed them as they ran through a couple blocks. Then, when it looked like Stockman was about to get Mikey, I hollered.

"Hey, Stockman!"

He turned to look at me as I ran towards him, and flung my tessen at him. He blocked the fan and I jumped up kicked my leg out in an attempt to kick his head. But he grabbed me before I could do anything.

"I've had enough of you!"

He tossed me onto the ground, and I landed face first into the concrete. At that moment a sharp, stinging pain shot through my right cheek.

"Ah!"

I hissed as I brought my hand up to my cheek, and I lowered it to see some scarlet liquid on my fingers. I gasped slightly and looked up. Stockman started to stomp towards me.

"Stockman!" I heard Mikey yell. "What'd I say about backing of my sis?"

Stockman turned and I looked down. Mikey was standing at the other end, holding what looked like two pizza boxes in his hands. Stockman laughed and stomped over to him.

"I've got you now!"

"Oh, yeah? Well I've got…" Mikey popped open the boxes. "Hot cheese!"

Mikey jumped and threw the pizza's at Stockman, and they slammed into his face. He skidded to a halt and tried to scrap the smeared cheese off of his face. I grabbed my tessen as Mikey sprinted over to me.

"Come on!"

I quickly got to my feet, and we ran off.

* * *

><p>"Sh! Guys, quiet… we don't wanna wake him."<p>

"I'm not making any noise."

"Don't tell me to be quiet."

"Guys," I whispered. "You know if he finds us he's gonna be pissed."

"Why are you worried?" Raph asked. "You're not the one who's grounded."

Then the lights flashed on and we froze. Sensei was standing right there, waiting for us.

"Ah! Sensei!"

I inhaled sharply. As I quickly pulled hood over my head more. I had kept it up since we outran Stockman so that the boys wouldn't see me hurt.

"And where have you been?" Sensei asked.

"Nowhere…" said Raph.

"How did you get so hurt?"

"Oh! That!" Leo spluttered. "Um… Well, we were…"

"Hit…"

"By a…"

"Bus," Mikey finished.

Splinter raised his eyebrow, clearly not believing it. I close my eyes as I groaned.

"Hit by a bus?" Donnie hissed.

"Well, what was I suppose to say? Meteor? Cow? Flying building?"

I rolled my eyes. _Geez, Mikey…_

"Lavinia, what is that on your face?"

I inhaled sharply as I looked up. Sensei was staring directly at me.

"N-nothing," I said, but the stutter in my voice was a dead give away.

"Remove your hood, Lavinia," said Splinter. "Now."

I gulped. _Aw, man…_ I took a deep breath, and sighed as I grabbed my hood and removed it. The second I did this all of the boys gasped.

"Nia, you're bleeding!" Leo said, horrified.

"It's nothing!" I said quickly. "It's just a cut, I swear!"

"You're whole cheek is red, Nia!" Raph snapped.

I stared at him. I lifted my hand up to my cheek, and I felt it was completely wet. I gasped lightly. A second later Splinter was standing in front of me. He lifted a hand under my chin and raised my face slightly. He examined my face for a moment, then looked at Donnie.

"Donatello, get the first aid kit."

"Hai, Sensei!"

Donnie ran off without hesitation.

"It doesn't look serious. Just needs to be cleaned and suppressed," said Sensei. "Once I've taken care of Lavinia, you all can tell me what happened."

* * *

><p>"…And then I threw hot cheese in his face and ran away," Mikey finished.<p>

"Very resourceful, Michelangelo," Splinter said. "But I am still highly disappointed in you all. The first rule of being a ninja is _do no harm_… Unless you mean to do harm, then do _lots_ of harm! Not only that," he continued. "But your foolishness got Lavinia hurt."

I gulped. He didn't have to bring that up. After my face was cleaned it was revealed that the cut wasn't long, just deep enough to bleed as much as it did. Still, it wasn't bad. A large piece of cotton taped to my cheek and I was fine.

"It was my fault, Sensei," I muttered. "And… it was just a cut…"

"But it could've been much worse," Sensei said firmly. "And your brothers know that."

I glanced over at the boys, and saw they all had shameful looks on their faces. It tore my heart to see that.

"You're right, Sensei," said Leo. "I guess we did make a mess of things."

"So, what do you think would be a fitting punishment?" Sensei asked.

Leo paused.

"We need to clean up our mess," he said finally.

"Yes. You must stop this Stockman-Pod."

"But, Sensei, that guy's already kicked our shells," said Donnie. "And, now he's even more powerful. How are we suppose to stop him?"

"I know! I'll hit him really hard!" Raph said, punching a fist into his hand.

"Brute force is not the answer," said Sensei. "You will need to rely on your ninja training."

"Excuse me, Sensei," Mikey piped up. "But, ninjas never had to go up against guys in armor."

Splinter raised and eyebrow, and I rolled my eyes.

"Mikey…"

Mikey looked over at me, and I pointed to the dojo tapestry behind Sensei, where pictures of ninjas were fighting a warrior wearing armor.

"Ooh…" Mikey rubbed the back of his head. "I mean… ninjas _always _had to go up against guys in armor!"

"Nice save," Raph muttered.

"Sensei," said Leo. "What was their secret?"

"They understood that you do not fight the armor, you fight the man inside."

I glanced over and exchanged a look with all of my bros. Except for Mikey, who looked confused.

"Why are we all lookin' at each other?"

* * *

><p>Leo's plan was simple. Mikey made Stockman chase him, and we were to wait on the rooftops.<p>

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Donnie asked.

"Like Sensei said," Leo told us. "Don't fight the armor, fight the guy inside. And one thing we know about bad guys, they _love _chasing Mikey."

"That doesn't boost my confidence," I told him.

"Guys! Stockman-Pod's got…!" Mikey landed in front of us. "_Missiles_!"

No sooner had he spoken then several large missiles started heading our way. We all scattered to a safe spot before the water tower on the roof was blown sky-high. I looked up and saw Mikey swung his nunchucks over a power line and was now handing over the fire. Then through the smoke and fire, Stockman appeared. As soon as he was out of the fire we all charged at him. We swung our large chains up at him, wrapping him in them, pinning his large arms to his body. I took several steps back, keeping the chain tight, and the others did, too. Mikey then landed in front of Stockman, grinning.

"Now who's trembling in terr- Whoa!"

_Snap!_ Stockman broke through the chains. He then grabbed Mikey by his head, reared his arm back, and tossed the young turtle. Mikey went flying and slammed into a wall.

"Mikey!" me and Donnie cried.

"That's it!" Raph growled. "You're goin' down!"

At once we all charged. Stockman turned and charged towards us as well. Donnie pushed himself up with his staff and kicked Stockman several times before smacking him with said staff. Leo ran up and sliced his katana at Stockman's sides, but that didn't make any progress. Using my kamas, I ran at Stockman and swung and stabbed at his legs all I could. I got a few good hits in, but none of it was enough to cause enough damage. Stockman then swung at Raph, who blocked it and tried to stab at the robotic mans' front. Stockman tried to throw him off, but Raph jumped, landed on top, and stabbed his sais into the metal to keep from falling. Raph then did a back flip and landed in front of Stockman. He lunged forward, ready to stab with his sais. But Stockman dodged, and hit Raph in his shell. Raph flew and smashed into a wall.

"Raph!" Leo yelled.

He and Donnie went to attack, but Stockman extended his arms and push them away, and they fell over the edge of the roof.

"Guys!" I cried.

I ran to go help them, but one of Stockman's hands grabbed me and yanked me back. He laughed in my face, and I glared at him. I glanced up, and I saw Raph helping Leo and Donnie back onto the roof. Stockman saw me staring and turned his head. He let out a groan, and threw me at them. I landed on the ground and tumbled over to them. Raph put a hand on my shoulder and helped me to my feet. Suddenly Stockman was in front of us once more.

"Any last words?" he growled.

"Just one," said Leo. "Bees."

Stockman stared. "Bees?"

"Bees…!" I heard Mikey shout.

I looked up and saw him sliding down and electric cable, a large beehive in his hands. He landed on the ground, jumped all over Stockman, and shoved the beehive through the hole where his face was. Stockman screamed and flailed about. His movement caused the suit to extend, revealing the T-Pod.

"The T-Pod!" Leo shouted.

I gripped my kamas tightly, and ran forward. One by one, me and my bros all swung powerful hits to Stockman. With each powerful blow, he stumbled backward more and more until finally, he fell off the roof. We ran over to the edge and looked down. Stockman was lying on the lower level, still flailing slightly. We all jumped down and joined him on the lower rooftop. Leo walked up to him and stood on his chest. He pointed his katana at Stockman's face, then and the T-Pod. He stabbed it, twisted, and pulled the devise out.

There was a flash of red light, and the suit powered down. Stockman groaned as he struggled his way out of the large suit, his face covered in large, painful whelps. He looked up as me and the other three went to stand next to Leo.

"So… We'll call it a tie?" Stockman asked hopefully.

Leo turned to smirk at Raph. "Wanna call it a tie, Raph?"

Raph cracked his knuckles. "Not yet…"

Pretty soon, Stockman was back where he belonged. In a dumpster.

"Now it's a tie," Raph said before slamming the lid shut.

"That's what I'm talking about!" I jeered, and I a double fist bump with Leo as Donnie and Raph shared a high-three.

"Yeah, _boy_!" Mikey cried, jumping into the air.

* * *

><p>"You all showed wisdom and great skill in defeating the Stockman-Pod," Sensei told us. "I'm proud of you all."<p>

I bowed my head. "Thank you, Sensei."

"Does this mean we're not grounded anymore?" Leo asked hopefully.

Sensei stroked his beard for a moment, his eyes closed.

"Yes," he said lowly.

The boys looked at each other with glee.

"But first, Randori!"

The boys turned and screamed, sprinting out of the room as Sensei held the wooden sword up. I watched as they all disappeared, their screams dieing with them.

"It seems your brothers fell for it, Lavinia," Sensei said, humor in his voice.

I laughed. "They sure did, Sensei. They sure did."

Sensei chuckled as he tucked away the wooden sword. He smiled at me, and gestured to the exit.

"You are free to go."

I bowed my head, and left the dojo.

All the boys were hiding in various places, no doubt to stay away from Sensei and his wooden sword. But once I told them it was all a joke, they all revealed themselves.

"That explains why you didn't run," Donnie said as he walked up to me. "Oh, by the way, I got something for you, Nia."

I turned. "What is it?"

Donnie smiled as he reached behind him, and pulled out something small and silver.

"The T-Pod?" I asked. "But, Leo stabbed it."

"And I fixed it," Donnie said simply. "I didn't want my hard work to go to waste. And, I want you to have it."

"Wow, cool!"

I grabbed the T-Pod from Donnie's hands and looked at it. It looked the same as it did before. But the silver seemed to be lighter, and the lights were glowing white instead of bright blue.

"No fair!" Mikey whined. "Why does Nia get the T-Pod?"

"Because I know she won't loose it and let it end up in the enemy's hands."

Mikey frowned, staring at his brother.

"…Well played," he said.

"Besides," Donnie continued. "One of the main reasons I made it was to give it to Nia anyway."

I blinked. "Really?"

Donnie nodded. "Yeah. No one likes music more than you, so, I thought-"

But he was cut off as I flung my arms around his neck in a large hug.

"Donnie, you're the best!"

Donnie chuckled as he hugged me back.


	11. Metalhead

Ch. 6  
>Metalhead<p>

Eh, what can I say? Another day, another Kraang fight.

"Keep moving!" Leo shouted. "Don't let 'em surround you! Failure is _not _an option!"

"Technically, failure is always an option," said Donnie.

"You know what else is an option?" Raph snapped. "_Slapping _you!"

"Not the time, guys!" I hollered.

We all continued running, speeding left and right to avoid the lasers the Kraang were firing. I gripped my kamas as I stopped, and did a huge back flip. I landed behind a pair of Kraang-droids, raised my arms, and swung my blades at their neck, slicing their heads off.

"Nia, watch it!" I heard Raph yell.

I turned my head and saw another Kraang-droid pointing a gun at me. I yelped and jumped out of the way just as it fired the laser, hitting the spot where I had been.

"Mikey! On the right!" Donnie shouted.

"Your right, or my right?"

Mikey yelped as the Kraang fired on him. Donnie leaped forward on an occupied Kraang-droid and whacked its head with his Bo staff. But the Kraang stood there, unharmed.

"Are you kidding me?" he snapped, glaring at his weapon. "I _hate _this thing!"

The Kraang-droid turned, aiming its laser gun at Donnie. But Raph had thrown one of his sais, and it embedded itself in the robot's skull. Raph leaped forward and used his other sai to remove the head.

"Nice work," he said sarcastically. "When we're done here there's a marching band that needs a majorette."

I rolled my eyes before running back into the fight. I went down and slide between the legs of a Kraang-droid, holding my kamas out. They sliced through the robot's legs, and the thing went down. Another one started running towards me, but I took out a few throwing stars and threw them at the robot. Two of them struck at the bot's head and one hit its chest, and the thing went down.

I stood up and regrouped with the others. But before we could do much of anything a big, black tank-like thing rolled up into the facility.

"Everyone, stand your ground!" Leo ordered, pointing his katanas at the cannon.

The said object made a loud, powerful whirl as it powered up.

"You were saying?" I asked.

Leo stared. "On second thought, _run_!"

A Kraang-droid pressed a button, and a huge laser blast fired. It barley missed us as we all jumped in different directions, trying to avoid the blast. Mikey jumped over the second blast, and Raph barley dodged the third. I yelped and went down into a split to avoid a shot that came my way. As soon as I had the chance, I ran and joined Mikey behind a stack of crates. Leo jumped and leaped from the walls, dodging another blast. Donnie came really close to getting hit. He had ducked to avoid a blast aiming for his head, and the shot fired a hole into the wall. Not only that, the blast had destroyed the top half of Donnie's staff, leaving a smoking remainder behind.

"Oh, come _on_!" he snapped as he stomped his foot.

"Dude, your weapon just exploded!" said Mikey.

Donnie ran and dodged another big blast and jumped behind a metal support for cover.

"How am I suppose to fight advanced, alien technology with a _stupid stick_!?"

Next thing I knew me and the guys were backed up against the wall. The laser cannon and the Kraang-droids stood before us, waiting to fire.

"Leo? A little help?" I asked.

"I'm working on it."

"Kraang," one of the robots said. "Destroy those who call themselves 'the turtles and the girl' when that which is the signal is the signal that is given by me."

In that second, Leo pulled out a throwing star and threw it upward. It bounced around the ceiling, shot towards the forklift, and it hit the button, causing the machine to come to life. It rumbled forward and pushed both the Kraang-droids and the cannon aside. The tiny brains crawled out of their destroyed robot bodies, squalling and flailing.

As soon as we were clear we turned and jumped out of a nearby window.

"Nice shot, Leo," I said, patting said turtles shoulder.

"Dumb luck," said Raph.

"It wasn't 'luck,' my friend," Leo grinned. "And 'dumb' had nothing to do with it."

There was a strange sound, like a struggling grunt, and I turned. Donnie was just outside, apparently trying to yank something through the window.

"Hey, give me a hand with this," he said, nodding to the object he was holding.

"A hand with what?" Leo asked.

Donnie didn't answer immediately.

Turns out the thing Donnie wanted to bring home was the remains of a Kraang robot suit. Without the little alien inside, of course.

"We're carrying this because… why?" Raph asked.

Donnie rolled his eyes. "Don't you wanna understand how these things work?"

"I know how they work," Raph said simply. "You hit 'em 'til the brainy toy surprise pops out."

The two continued to drag the robot body over to the manhole as Mikey took off the cover.

"That's your problem, Raph," Donnie grunted as he lifted the body. "You never think things through."

He lowered his arms and dropped the body into the hole. Only problem; it got stuck at an awkward angle.

Raph shot Donnie an irritated look. "Was that suppose to fit?"

Donnie looked at us, looking slightly embarrassed. Then he glared down at the robot body and started kicking and stomping it repeatedly. _This might take a while…_

* * *

><p>We all got to the lair after a while, and we all went off to do our own thing. Mikey was eating some pizza, Leo was watching 'Space Heroes,' Raph was sitting on the couch feeding Spike, and I was sitting next to him while playing my guitar. April was sitting in the beanbag chair with her laptop in her lap, and Donnie was right next to her, rummaging through the robotic body.<p>

"This technology is _light-years _ahead of anything I've ever seen," he pulled out a small part from the exoskeleton, and waved it near April's face. "Do you know what this is?"

April, whose gaze was glued to her computer, didn't look up. "No."

"Neither do I!" Donnie beamed, drooling with excitement. "But I can't wait to find out!"

At that moment Sensei walked into the room, carrying a new Bo staff.

"Oh, look Spike," Raph petted the turtles head. "Donnie got another stick to break."

I snorted. Sensei walked up to Donnie, holding the staff out to him.

"With all due respect. Sensei, I can't keep fighting alien technology with a six foot staff," Donnie looked up hopefully. "I was hoping to upgrade my weapon."

"Hm…" Sensei gave a small smile. "A _seven _foot staff. Interesting…"

"No, I meant using modern technology."

"Ah… a _solar powered_ staff."

I laughed quietly, and Donnie shook his head.

"I'm serious, Sensei."

"I know," said Splinter. "And yes, you may upgrade your weapon."

"That's totally unfair! You can't just sa-" Donnie paused, blinking. "Wait, did you say yes?"

"Ninja's have improved their arsenal for centuries," Sensei said wisely. "We are masters of adaptation."

Donnie jumped to his feet, beaming with happiness and excitement.

"That's great! 'Cause with this technology, I will be _invincible_!" he started bouncing with anticipation. "What should I make? Electric sais? Multi-shot shruiken? _Plasma swords?_ Ooh… I just gave myself goosebumps!"

I stopped my playing and stared at Donnie, eyebrows raised. Then he jumped down next to April and lifted his arm up.

"You wanna feel?" he asked. "Huh?"

April glanced up at Donnie, looking slightly amused, and her eyes went back to her computer.

"Pass."

_Real smooth, D._

"But, remember," Sensei warned. "Technology is a means, not an end. It is _you _who must prevail in battle, not your weapon. Combat is not a video game."

"That's it! I'll turn combat into a video game!" Donnie said as he picked up the robot body. "Thanks Sensei!"

Without another word, Donnie dragged the body into his lab and shut the doors.

"You sure that was wise, Sensei?" I asked. "I mean… Donnie can come up with some pretty strange things. And with Kraang tech, God knows what he'll come up with next."

"Your concern is understandable, Lavinia. But, I trust Donatello to make the right decisions with something a serious as this."

With that, he turned and headed for the dojo.

"Nia," April piped up. "You know it's like, five, right?"

I looked at the watch around my neck. "Yeah. So?"

"Didn't you say you were doing something tonight?"

My brows furrowed as I tried to remember. What was it that I had to do tonight…? And then it hit me.

"Angus!" I gasped.

At once I put my pick between my teeth and kneeled down in front of my guitar case, setting my guitar inside.

"What's up?" Raph asked.

"I'm suppose to meet Angus in Central Park!" I said through my teeth, which were still holding the pick. "I promised to meet him at 5:40."

"_Ooh…_" Mikey cooed. "Excited to see Angus, huh?"

I whipped my head around. All of the boys were now looking at me, large smirks on their faces. Even April had torn her eyes away from her computer screen to grin at me. I stared back at them as I snatched the guitar pick out of my mouth.

"What? I promised him, and you know I hate breaking my-"

"That's not why we're smiling," Leo interrupted.

"Oh yeah? Then why?"

"Face it, Nia," Mikey said slyly. "This is a date, and you know it."

I stared at them, my mouth hanging open. Are they really going to do this now? Out of the corner of my eye I saw Raph turn his head away, but he was probably just looking at Spike.

"C'mon Mikey, leave her alone," he said, not looking at us. "When she's ready to admit she likes him, she will."

"For the last time!" I groaned. "I don't like him that way!"

But the others continued to smirk at me. _Geez, how many times do I need to say it before they get the hint?_ I reared my head back and let out a groan of frustration.

"You know what? Whatever," I closed the lid of my guitar case and clipped it shut. "While you guys are chilling down here, I'm gonna go out and hang with my friend. So, go ahead. Smirk and tease all you want."

I grabbed the handle of my guitar case and put the guitar pick in my pocket. I turned on my heel and headed for the exit.

"Don't forget your hoodie, young lady!" Leo called, his voice playful.

"I think I can live without my hoodie for one nigh, Leonardo," I called back. "I'll be back later."

"Have fun," said April.

"Good luck on your date!" Mikey called back to me.

I bit my lip as I slowly inhaled through my nose. _Ignore him… _I exhaled, and left.

* * *

><p>I was surprised at how many people were still out at this time. Don't get me wrong, I didn't think that the park would be empty or anything. But there was still a crowd of people around "Rat Rock" by the time I got there. As planned, Angus was sitting there, waiting for me.<p>

" 'M surprised," he said as I walked up to him. "You're pretty early."

"You're welcome," I said. "So, where do we begin?"

"Simple; open your case and pull out your guitar."

Still sitting down, Angus opened his American flag-painted guitar case. The inside was made of soft, red material. The guitar was a soft, solid red with a yellow star in the center. It was lovely, but that's not what caught my attention. In the center of it was a small photo of Angus, and there were two adults standing next to him. There was a heavyset woman with short, brown hair and small, blue eyes. She had her hand on Angus' shoulder, and was smiling at the camera. Next to her was a tall, very bulky man with black hair and green eyes. He had his arms around the woman's shoulders, smiling at her. Angus stood in front of them, a red ballcap on his head. He had his arms folded, a grin on his face. He looked younger in his photo, and his brown hair was longer and shaggier.

"Are those your parents?" I asked.

Angus paused while taking out his guitar. He bent over and looked inside the case.

"Yep," he nodded. "Took that the day before we moved here. Now, let's see your girl."

I raised my eyebrow. "My… what?"

"Your piece… Your baby…"

I shook my head.

"_Your guitar_."

"Oh!"

I gulped, suddenly feeling embarrassed. I walked over and sat next to Angus, setting my case down. I unclipped it and opened the case up. Angus leaned in, and wolf whistled.

"Now that is a _beauty_!"

"Thanks," I said. "My dad gave it to me."

"Well, your daddy's got some _awesome _taste," Angus put the strap around his shoulders. "Ready?"

"Yeah," I took out my guitar and put the strap over my shoulder. "So… what do I do now?"

Angus smiled. "You've never played with anyone before, have yah?"

I shook my head.

"Figures. Well, it's obvious, ain't it? You just play."

Angus reached behind him and took out a tiny red pick. He brought the pick to the strings, cleared his throat, and began to sing.

"_You spin my head right round- right round. When you go down, when you go down- down. You spin my head right round- right round. When you go down, when you go down-down…"_

Stared at him, completely surprised. He was a really good player, and he could really _sing_!

"_Walk out the house with my swagger, hop in the whip, yo I got places to go! People to see, time is precious, I look at my Cartier, out of control! Just like my mind where I'm going, no women, no shorties, no nothing my clothes. No stomping on my Perrerli's on froze, unlike my jewelry that's always on cold…"_

I saw something drop out the corner of my eye, and I turned. But the only thing I saw was a tall man who had passed by rather closely. I glanced down inside Angus's case, and saw a 5 dollar bill in there.

"_I know the storm is coming, my pockets keep telling me it's gonna shower! Call up my homies it's on and poppin' tonight, cause it's meant to be ours! We keep away shot cause we balling this platinum Patron every hour! Look momma I owe you just like the flowers, girl you the truth with all that goody sour…"_

A pair of younger girls- probably about twelve- stood in front of us, giggling cutely. Then they both walked up, and both dropped a few bills into Angus' case.

"_You spin my head right round- right round. When you go down, when you go down- down. You spin my head right round- right round. When you go down, when you go down- down…"_

Angus strummed the last note before coming to a stop. He stopped singing, and looked up at the two girls, who were still standing there. He smiled and nodded at them.

"Ladies."

The two girls giggled, blushingly furiously before turning and hopping away. I snorted.

"Does that happen often?" I asked.

"Nah, it's just them," said Angus. "Those were the Cammy sisters. They've been acting like that for a while now."

"Hmm… Well, that was really good. You're very talented."

"Thanks," Angus grinned. "Alright, your turn."

I blinked. "Oh, um… okay."

I reached into my front pocket and pulled out my black guitar pick. I put it to the strings, but I didn't play.

"Nervous?" Angus asked.

"Yeah," I said sheepishly. "The only people I've ever played for are my brothers and my dad."

"So, pretend they're the ones listening to yah," Angus smiled. "Just imagine that you're playing for them, no one else."

I bit my lip, and nodded. _Okay, sounds simple enough._ I gulped as I took a deep breath, and began to play.

"_So no one told you life was gonna be this way… Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A… It's like you're always stuck in second gear… When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but…_

"_I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too…"_

As I continued playing I saw out the corner of my eye a woman stop in front of me. I couldn't see her face, but she appeared to be looking at me. A second later she dropped a bill into my guitar case, and continued on.

"_You're still in bed at ten, and work began eight… You've burned your breakfast, so far things are going great… Your mother warned you there'd be days like these… But she didn't tell you when the world has brought you down to your knees, and…_

"_I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there four you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too…"_

I was able to glance up enough to see a young couple who were holding hands walk up in front of me.

"Aw, I love this song," the girl muttered.

The boy smiled at her as he reached into his pocket. He held his hand over my case, and dropped several quarters inside. The girl reached into her pocket before reaching her hand out and dropping two or three bills into the case. The two continued to listen a little longer before moving along.

"_It's like you're always stuck in second gear… When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but…_

"_I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too…_

"_I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too…"_

I stopped singing, and then I stopped playing. I let out whatever breath I was holding, and I turned to look at Angus. He had a stunned, speechless look on his face.

"Honey," he said. "You've got some serious skill."

I smiled at him.

* * *

><p>"I'm back!" I called as I walked through the coin eaters, which served as the entrance and exit.<p>

"Hi, Nia," April called back, her eyes not leaving her laptop. "You have fun?"

I nodded. "Tons."

I walked over to the couch, setting the case on the floor.

"Hey, guys!" April called. "Check out this post I got!"

"Hang on, April!" I heard Raph's voice. "I just have to destroy Lame-O-Nardo."

I turned my head to see Leo and Raph were in the middle of playing the digital hockey game. Leo had a serious look on his face that I only ever saw when he was training. Raph, however, had a wide smirk on his face the whole time he was playing. Then he slammed his hand down on the button, and the hockey puck slammed into Leo's player, and it was destroyed. Leo gasped, then glared at his younger brother. Raph laughed before jumping from his spot and doing a little victory dance. He smirked smugly as he went over and put an elbow on Leo's shoulder. Then he smacked his older brother before walking over to April. Leo scowled, rubbing his head as he followed. I sighed.

"Boys, right?" April muttered.

"You have no idea," I whispered as I jumped down to sit next to her.

"So, what's up?" Raph asked, but he stopped when Leo smacked his head.

"I set up a message board to collect unusual sightings around New York," April said as she tapped away on her computer. "People send in pics, videos… I also get some stuff that may help us track the Kraang and find my dad."

"Anything good come up yet?" I asked as I looked at her computer screen.

"I think so. Like this video of a gas explosion."

She clicked on a clip, and a video of a Kraang-droid walking through smoke.

"A Kraang-droid," Leo said grimly.

Mikey, who had been sleeping on the tire swing, shot up and screamed.

"_Where?!_"

A second later he fell over and splashed into the water. I chuckled.

"We'll check it out tonight," Leo told April.

"Why not now?" she asked.

"Because it's daytime," he explained. "We can't allow anyone to see us."

"Well, _I _can…"

April closed her laptop and set it on the couch before standing up and walking towards the exit. Leo ran up and stood in front of her.

"April, think about this. It could be dangerous."

"You know what else could be dangerous? Standing between me and my father."

April crossed her arms, staring daggers at Leo, who stared back.

"Watch this," Raph whispered to me. "Leo's gonna wimp out."

I chuckled lowly as I watched the other two. Leo raised his hands up in surrender, and stepped aside.

"'Kay…"

With that, April left the lair.

"What'd I tell yah?" Raph smirked.

I giggled as I rolled my eyes.

* * *

><p>"One 5," I said as I placed my card in pile.<p>

"Two 6's," said Raph, and he placed two cards into the pile.

I bit my lip. "…Two 7's."

"BS!" Raph snapped.

"No, it's not!"

"Oh, yeah?"

Raph picked up the two cards I had dropped, and lifted them up. Neither of them had a 7 on them. I glared daggers as Raph smirked at me.

"I believe _this _is now yours," he set down the cards and pushed the pile towards me. "Oh! And look! I only have two cards left. Looks like I'm about to beat yah, Nia."

I snorted. "Pff! Yeah right!"

I hastily grabbed the pile of cards and shuffled them. Raph grinned at me before setting down one of his two remaining cards.

"One 8."

I was just about to call 'BS' when there was a loud _bang!_ I snapped my head up and looked around. I didn't see anything. There was another one, and this time I felt the floor shake. There was another, and another, and another. It sounded like something huge was taking large, thunderous steps. The vibrations from the steps were even making the pizza box laying on the floor bounce. Mikey hastily grabbed the box and held it to his chest as though it were his first born child.

At that point I saw something walk out of Donnie's lab. A short, but big robot-like something. It had three fingers and toes, and on its back, acting as a shell, was what looked like a manhole cover. I looked at it for another second before I realized it looked like a metal turtle. Except, it was about half the size of any turtle I had known, and I only knew four.

"_Take me to your leader!_" Donnie's voice sounded through the bullhorn.

"Leo, it's for you," Mikey called.

Leo stood up and walked towards the robot. Me and Raph looked at each other, and shrugged. We both dropped our cards and walked up to Donnie's new creation.

"What _is _this thing?" Leo asked.

Then Donnie came out from his lab. He had an RC car remote control in his hands, and a happy, but professional look on his face.

"Lady and gentlemen… and Raphael…"

Raph blinked.

"_This _is the future of ninjutsu!"

Our gazes fell from him to the much smaller robot. _Okay… not exactly what I expected._

"I always thought the future of ninjutsu would be taller," Raph stated bluntly.

"This is what you were working on?" I stared at Donnie. "And did you really finish it in one night?!"

"Yes, I did!" Donnie said proudly.

"Aww! He's so _cute_!" Mikey came up and started tickling his fingers under the robot's chin. "Koochie, koochie, koo!"

At once the robot's eyes flashed, its mouth fell, and it lifted its hands up in a threatening position. But it really became threatening once several very dangerous, heavy-duty weaponry appeared all over it. Hell, it even came with a freaking baseball bat! Mikey screamed and fell back, scooting away from the robot. Donnie chuckled, a smirk growing across his face.

"He doesn't like being tickled," he said simply.

He pressed a button on his controller, and all the weapons on the robot retracted and vanished. Mikey glared at the thing before walking up to it again. I raised my brow, then chuckled when I saw Mikey making silly faces at the robot.

"Isn't it cool?" Donnie's voice was filled with pure excitement. "I reversed engineered it from the Kraang-droid."

"Okay…" Leo looked up at his younger brother. "Why?"

"So, the drone can handle all the dangerous stuff while we stay out of harm's way!"

"Oh, I get it," Raph said sarcastically. "It's for wimps too afraid to fight."

"No, it's for wimps too _smart _to fight!" Donnie stated, then he realized what he had just said. "I mean…"

Mikey, who was tapping on the bot's head, suddenly gasped.

"Ooh! Let's call him Metalhead!" he said. "Why, you ask? Because its got a head, and it's made of-"

"We get it!" Leo cut across him.

"I don't need a _toaster _to fight my battles for me," Raph snapped.

I frowned at the angry turtle. Sure, we didn't necessarily need this thing, but it couldn't possibly be useless, right? However, it seemed as though Leo was on Raph's side.

"This is ridiculous, Donnie," he said. "It takes the whole point out of being a ninja."

"It's _exactly _the point of being a ninja!" Donnie explained. "We adapt! Now, watch this… Attack the drone! Give it all you got!"

"You sure?" Leo asked. "I don't wanna break your toy-"

"_I _do!" Raph snapped, pushing Leo aside to approach the bot.

I glanced up at Donnie, and I felt a bit uneasy with that confident smirk on his face. Thinking it would be wise to stay out of this, I folded my arms behind my back and slowly took a few steps backwards. _This oughta be good…_

Raph withdrew his sais and yelled as he charged forward. Then he jumped into the air, bounced off the ceiling, and dove forward, aiming his sais directly towards Metalhead's head. Donnie handled the controls, and suddenly Metalhead caught Raph's sais at the last second. The robot smacked the turtle on the ground several times before tossing him away.

Donnie suddenly jumped out of the way, and I didn't have to ask why. Both Leo and Mikey jumped and landed on either side of Metalhead and started whacking it with their weapons. But no matter how hard they hit or how much force they gave it, nothing made a scratch on the robot. Suddenly, Metalhead reached up and grabbed one of Leo's katanas, and one of Mikey's nunchucks. The robot pulled both weapons together, which caused Leo and Mikey to be pulled forward, and their heads banged together. Metalhead then stomped on Leo's foot, who screamed in pain. Then he was kicked back, and landed on top of Raph. Not long after that, Mikey was thrown on top of the pile.

"I kicked your shells!" Donnie said as he stood over them. "And I didn't even have to use the laser cannon!"

I stared at him. "A laser cannon? Is that really necessary?"

"Of course it is!" Donnie smirked at me. "You wanna test it, Nia?"

"No thanks! I'm good!"

Donnie laughed, then turned back to the others, who were all starting to get up.

"Face it, guys! With this thing," he swung the remote around. "I'm invincible!"

Raph stood up. "Oh yeah?"

Then he used his sai to knock the remote out of his brother's hand. Donnie blinked, and scowled at Raph.

"You know what I mean!"

Donnie turned and went over to retrieve his remote. But as he kneeled down and reached forward, Sensei appeared in front of him. Donnie looked up, surprised.

"Sensei, I was wondering if I could take Metalhead out for a spin tonight?"

Sensei remained silent for a moment. "You may."

"That's totally unfair! You can't just-!" Donnie stopped. "Wait, what?"

"You have created this new weapon," Splinter walked over to Metalhead, and patted its head. "We must see how well it works."

"Well, that's great!" Donnie bowed his head. "Thank you, Sensei!"

"But, this is a test only," Sensei said firmly. "Do not take it into combat."

"No problem, Sensei."

Splinter looked at Donnie for a moment before turning and going into the dojo. The second he was out of sight, Raph, who was looking at a comic, spoke up.

"You're taking it into combat, aren't yah?"

"Totally!" Donnie giggled.

I sighed. "Well, this'll be good."

* * *

><p>We were all now at the area where the gas explosion had happened. Leo and Mikey were ahead, observing the area below. Me and Raph were kneeling down, just behind them. At that moment there was a loud wiring sound, and we turned. Metalhead had jumped onto the rooftop, cracking the concrete. I groaned slightly. The robot ran over, making loud stomping sounds with each step it took. The drone stopped in front of us, and steam shot out from each side of its head, making a loud, squeaking noise.<p>

"Should we double back?" Leo asked, clearly irritated. "I think there's a car alarm we didn't set off."

"Maybe we should make it walk around some more," I added. "I don't think we woke everyone in the building just yet."

"I kinda like it," Raph kneeled in front of the robot and patted its head. "It goes along nicely with all the sirens and cries for help."

"_Oh, come on! You guys are just jealous_," Donnie's voice issued from Metalhead's speakers. "'_Cause_ _you're out in the cold, and I'm here eating Mikey's last slice of pizza_."

"Hey!" Mikey punched the drone, and then yelped in pain. "Ow!"

I sighed. "Not trying to say that this thing can't be useful, Donnie," I said. "But, would it have killed you to install a stealth mode or something."

"It's a working progress, Nia," Donnie explained. "It's gonna take some time to install something like that into Metalhead's system."

"Hello?" a voice whispered.

"Guys, quiet," Leo ordered. "Somebody's coming."

At once we all dropped to our knees. Metalhead did too, but he did it very noisily.

"Guys, it's me," the voice said, and this time we recognized it.

"April!" said Leo.

At that moment we all jumped over the edge and landed into the alley below. In front of us was, in fact, April.

"Guys!" she said happily. "I was just looking for you!"

But as she spoke something large landed in the dumpster right behind her. It tipped over and felt on its side, loud noises issuing from inside. Then the lid swung open, and Metalhead stepped out. It stood in front of April, looking up at her. We all stared at it for a moment.

"Still, it's stealthier than the real Donatello," Raph said simply.

"What the heck is that?" April asked.

"It's Donnie's latest, _brilliant _creation," said Leo. "Metalhead."

"Catchy name, huh?" Mikey leaned his elbow on the robot's head. "My idea."

Suddenly Metalhead's mouth dropped, and Donnie's voice sounded loudly from the bullhorn instead of the speakers.

"_Oh, sorry April!"_

We all winced and covered our ears to block out the whining feedback.

"_I'm still getting used to the controls…"_

"Donnie! The bullhorn!" I yelled.

"_Uh? Oh… whoops," _Metalhead's mouth closed over the bullhorn. _"Megaphone button got stuck."_

"Guys, we gotta do something!" April said quickly. "The Kraang are gonna poison the city's water supply with mutagen!"

"What?" I gasped.

"The whole city will become a disaster area!" he said.

"_There'll be mutants everywhere!" _said Donnie.

"Wow, think of all the friends we could make!" Mikey said, hugging Metalhead's head with excitement.

We all turned our heads to stare at him. Metalhead tilted his head up to look at Mikey, too.

"Well, excuse me for being a glass half full kinda guy."

"No offense, Mikey," I said. "But the last couple of mutants we've had weren't exactly friendly to us. I'm pretty sure others wouldn't treat us any better."

"Which is why we have to stop them," said Leo. "Let's go!"

He started running, and we all turned and followed him.

"_Yeah! The Kraang don't stand a chance!" _Donnie said excitedly.

Leo stopped running, and we stopped too. He then held out hand, stopping the bot in its tracks.

"_What?"_

"Donnie, I need you to hang back," Leo told him. "Metalhead is just too clumsy, it'll get in our way."

"_Clumsy?"_

Metalhead threw his arms out in exaggeration, but accidentally knocked over a couple of trashcans in the process.

"_I did that on purpose to emphasize my point," _Donnie said quickly.

"You're not coming, Donnie," Leo said firmly.

He turned to leave, and Mikey and Raph followed. I bent over so I was eyelevel with Metalhead, and I patted his head.

"Sorry, Donnie."

"_It's fine," _he sighed. _"Go on. I'll catch you guys later."_

I gave the bot a sad smile before turning around to follow my bros.

* * *

><p>"Looks like a Kraang picnic down there," Leo said softly.<p>

"That doesn't sound very appetizing," I commented.

"Ready to bash some bots?" Raph asked, smirking.

"Destroy some droids?" Leo said, punching his fist into his palm.

"Slice some cyborgs?" I added slyly.

"Clean some closets!"

I blinked, and me and the other two turned to stare at the younger turtle, who stared back.

"Uhh… I meant to say 'crush some Kraang?'"

I rolled my eyes.

Suddenly, Leo and Raph both jumped down, landing on top of two droids. Leo sliced and stabbed with his katanas, and Raph stabbed it a couple times before using his sai to take its head off.

I saw a Kraang droid right underneath me, and I leaped down as I took out my right kama. I landed on the bots shoulders, raised my hands, and swung it down. The curved blade sunk into the robot's head, and I leaped up just as the thing fell to the ground.

"Booyakasha!"

I turned in time to see Mikey fall down on a pair of droids. He smashed them to the ground before mercilessly pounding them into pieces. Raph grabbed him by his shell and pulled him back, but not before Mikey got a few more kicks in.

We went over to the side and peeked around the corner. All clear. We ran forward, one at a time, towards crate and kneeled behind it. Leo rolled over to another crate, and Raph followed him. I rolled to a barrel next to them, and Mikey followed me. We all looked around and saw many more droids were there, pacing around, all armed.

_Clang! _I whipped my head around, and so did the guys. A remaining droid from before was laying there on the ground. It had managed to get the Kraang's attention, and pointed at us before falling to the ground. Mikey whimpered as we all turned around, and the rest of the Kraang were now aiming at us.

The second they started firing I stood and leaped up from my hiding spot. I jumped everywhere, trying to avoid being hit.

* * *

><p><strong>Donnie's P.O.V.<strong>

_Well, this is just great, _I thought as I stared at the TV screen. _I'm not even part of the mission. I'm just sitting behind, stuck on the roof with… _I gasped. I was with April! Well, not physically of course, but I could still see her and everything. _Okay, don't freak out or anything, Donnie, _I told myself._ You two are probably gonna be here for a while, so… try to talk to her._

I turned the controller keys, and turned Metalhead's head so that I could see April on the TV screen. She was sitting on the ledge, looking down below. I zoomed in on her face a little more to get a closer look at her beautiful. Suddenly she looked up at me, and I snapped Metalhead's head forward. A few seconds later I turned the controller back so I could look at her again. _Come on, Donatello! Say something!_

"So, heheh…" I chuckled nervously. "Yah like heavy metal?"

She raised her eyebrow, and I cleared my throat. _Stupid!_

Then, to my surprise, she chuckled.

"_You mean, like the music genre?"_

"Oh! Um… yes?"

She laughed again. _"Not really. I prefer pop, actually."_

I smiled at the image on the screen. _Okay! Now we're getting somewhere!_

"Just pop? Don't you listen to anything else?"

April shrugged. _"I like dubstep and rock, but that's pretty much it," _she faced me a little more. _"Been meaning to ask, what kind of music does Nia actually like. She seems like more of a music expert than you guys. What's her style?"_

I paused for a moment to think about my answer.

"Well, she loves all music in general," I said simply. "But, there are certain genres that she listens to more than others. Like, she used to listen to a lot of Jazz when we were little, and she still listens to it now. She started listening to a bit of country when she was eleven, that's when she started learning how to play guitar, and she's _amazing _at it. She started listening to soft rock when she was thirteen, and she pretty much went on to listen to everything after that. She'll listen to anything if it makes her happy, really."

It took me a second to realize that I had been rambling on about a simple question. I suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. But, what else could I say? Everything I had said was true. Nia had always been attracted to music, even when we were little. I just felt like I needed to specify that.

I glanced up at the screen, and was surprised to see April staring at me. She looked shocked and, if I wasn't mistaking it, a little happy.

"What?" I asked.

She didn't answer immediately.

"_You really know a lot about her, huh?" _she suddenly smiled. _"I know kids at my school who don't know or care what their siblings do… or anything. But, you guys know Nia like the back of your hands."_

"Of course we do," I said. "She was our best friend before she became our sister. We had to get to know her. Heck, we wanted to! She was the first human we had ever met, and the first one to accept us for who and what we are, and…"

I gazed at the screen and saw that April's smile had sweetened.

"_You really care about her, huh?"_

Though she couldn't see it, I smile at her.

"She's our sister, and we'll always love her."

April smiled at me, and I smiled back, my expression still unknown to her. Suddenly I heard laser blasts, and I messed with the controller to see the building. From the windows I could see bright, flashing pink lights. The others must've gotten into a fight already. _Oh well, nothing my bros and sis can't handle._

I looked at the building for a few more seconds. Then I moved the controller, and I turned Metalhead's head to look at April. She had her head point down, and she was looking at the building. Despite the situation, I could still see that the smile she had given me before was on her face, just barley still there. I pressed a button, and the camera zoomed in on her face. I could see all of her adorable freckles under her gorgeous blue eyes.

"Look at her… She's so _beautiful_…" I sighed as I slowly crawled up to the screen. "On this monitor she can't tell I'm staring…"

"_You do know that's not muted, right?"_

"DAH!"

I yelled and suddenly flung myself back, landing on my shell, my arms held out. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! _I quickly sat up, grabbed the controller, and adjusted my headset so that I could speak into it.

"O-oh! O-of course!" I laughed nervously. "If it was muted you couldn't hear me joking!"

I groaned as I face palmed myself with the controller. I gulped as I pressed what I hoped was the mute button.

"Man, I hope she bought that."

"_That's the megaphone."_

"I know!" I quickly pressed the button that turned the megaphone off, and I turned to the building again. "So, how do you think the fight's going?"

Before she could answer there was a large, pink laser blast. It went right between us, and the forced knocked us back on the roof. I quickly got Metalhead to his feet and made him walk over to the ledge.

"_Ahh! They're everywhere!" _I heard Mikey shout. _"Run!"_

"_Not great," _April said bluntly.

* * *

><p><strong>Nia's P.O.V.<strong>

"Can this mission get any worse?" I groaned as the Kraang advanced on us.

"We're trapped!" Leo yelled.

"Or maybe, _they're _the ones who are trapped? Hm?" Mikey asked.

He then sat on his knees and peeked his head up over the old barrel me and him were hiding behind. A second later he yelled and came back down as a laser just barley missed his head.

"No! It's us!" he yelled.

"What do we do?" I asked.

_CRASH! _The sound of glass smashing rang throughout the building. I looked around the barrel, and I saw Metalhead standing on a pile of Kraang, its arms stuck out at awkward angles.

"What are you _doing_?" Leo snapped. "What's wrong with your arms?"

"_My hands aren't on my hips?"_

"_No!_" me and Leo hissed.

"_Sorry…" _Donnie chuckled sheepishly. _"Forgot to press B."_

The arms whirled around for a moment before they landed on the robot's hips. The Kraang powered up their weapons, aimed them at the little drone, and then fired. The lasers hit Metalhead with brutal force, but they didn't seem to have any effect of the robot. The droids continued to fire until they realized that their weapons were doing no good, and stopped.

"_Now it's _my _turn!"_

Metalhead's left hand retracted into its arm, and a large gun barrel replaced it.

"_Eat hot laser!"_

Suddenly, large, blue lasers shot out of the gun. Within seconds it took down most of the Kraang. Over the blasting noise, I could hear Donnie laughing excitedly.

"_Hahaha! You want some o' this?! WHOO! Hahahaha…! Yeah, baby!"_

"Dude, he's acting laughing like a crazy gamer!" I yelled.

Metalhead aimed its right hand out at the Kraang, and the fist detached itself from the arm and started flying around the room, punching down every Kraang-droid that got in the way.

"That is so cool!" I said to the others.

The hand punched a few more Kraang before coming back to the end of Metalhead's right arm. Then the drone turned its head towards us.

"_Hey, Raph! How does it feel to be shown up by a toaster?"_

"Oh!" I jeered as Raph glared at the little bot.

"Burn!" Mikey shouted.

"_Yeah! I thought that was a good one."_

"No! Burn!" Mikey yelled as he pointed outward.

I looked up, and gasped. There were several more Kraang-droids coming up behind Metalhead.

"_Oh! Right!"_

Metalhead turned around, and suddenly huge flames shot out from its right arm, scorching the Kraang-droids. Once those Kraang were down Metalhead retracted the flamethrower and replaced it with the laser gun from before. The drone started firing everywhere at all the Kraang-droids. It turned, and we all yelped as we ducked behind our hiding spots to avoid being shot.

"Dude!" Mikey snapped.

"_Oops! Sorry, Mikey."_

"Donnie, watch the friendly fire!" Leo ordered.

But Donnie wasn't listening. He was too busy having the time of his life with shooting the Kraang.

"_Here's some for you! And some for you!" _Donnie's gamer-crazed voice issued from the bot. _"Oh yeah! I save a little for you, too! How'd that taste!"_

Donnie fired at what appeared to be the last droid in the place. The thing fell to the floor, and a couple of Donnie's lasers hit a couple of gas barrels.

_BOOM!_

The barrels exploded into a mass of fire, and the force sent us everywhere. I went through the air for a moment before I landed on something hard. I looked down to see I landed right on Raph's shell. I groaned as I slid off of him.

"Sorry, Raph…"

"It's cool. You okay?"

"Yeah."

I rubbed my head and looked around, searching for Metalhead until I found it. The drone had slammed into a large, metal supporter and had slid to the ground. From here I could see tiny sparks shooting from the corner of its head, and I saw the silver antenna fall to the floor with a loud _tink!_

"_No! I lost the control signal!" _Donnie's voice cried.

Suddenly, a Kraang alien crawled up to Metalhead and went up to the top of its head. It was electrocuted, but it didn't last long. The alien wrapped its arms around Metalhead's head, closing its eyes. A few surging noises told me that Metalhead was powering back up. The drone tilted its head up, and its once blue, light bulb eyes had gone Kraang pink.

"_Uh-oh… Guys!" _Donnie yelled. _"If you can hear me, you might wanna run!"_

"Guys…!" I yelled.

They all looked up in time to see Metalhead standing before us, the Kraang still attached to his head.

"The ones that which are called 'turtles and girl' will now be called 'turtles and girl that are…" Metalhead's mouth dropped open to expose the bullhorn. "_Destroyed._"

I took a step back, slightly intimidated by the once non-evil bot.

"Phew!" Mikey sighed. "I was really afraid at the beginning of the sentence, but then I sorta just lost interest towards-"

There was the sound of shifting metal, and we all turned our heads to see that Metalhead's left hand was replaced with the laser gun.

"Okay! Now I'm afraid again!"

Mikey yelled as he jumped away to avoid being shot at.

"Mikey!" I yelled.

Mikey spun one of his nunchucks and tossed it at Metalhead. The weapon caught the drone's gunned hand and held it out of the way. Leo and Raph landed on either side of Metalhead, and I ran up to stand behind the bot.

"Give him everything you've got!" Leo ordered.

At once we all ran forward. We stood before Metalhead and started swining and slicing our weapons as much as we possibly could. But we couldn't make so much as a scratch on the thing.

"He's gotta have a weak spot!" Leo yelled.

"This always works!" Mikey reared his leg back, and kicked Metalhead between his metal legs. "_Ow!_ Well, usually…"

_Bam! _Metalhead punched Mikey with such force that he went flying and his shell slammed into a metal support. The drone punched Leo, who was knocked over. He punched Raph, who landed by Mikey. I barley had time to breath before the drone kicked me square in the chest, sending me backwards. I landed in the pile with my bros, groaning in pain.

I sat up and looked in front of me. Metalhead stood before us, along with several more Kraang-droids. We all quickly got to our feet, weapons in hand.

"Now Kraang will destroy you" the Kraang's voice issued from Metalhead. "Which one wants to be first to be destroyed by Kraang?"

"_Me!_"

I gasped. We all looked up in time to see a familiar, purple-banded turtle jump down from the hole in the ceiling. Donnie landed in front of Metalhead, and he had his Bo staff in his hand.

"Donnie!" Mikey yelled. "Bangin' entrance, dude!"

"You guys deal with the droids!" Donnie told us. "I'll handle Metalhead."

I grinned. "Whatever you say, bro."

Holding my arms at my sides, I followed my bros as we advanced on the Kraang-droids. I ran up to one and jumped up, landing on its head.

"Yoohoo!"

The droid glanced up as I swung my kamas down and shoved them into the robot's eye sockets. I leaped up as the droid fell down, and I landed on another one. A Kraang infornt of us saw me and tried to fire at me. But I jumped, and the droid ended up shooting his buddy instead.

"That's not very nice!"

I threw my kama at the droid, and the blade sung into its chest, making sparks fly. I landed on top of the thing, making it fall to the ground. I used my other kama to slice off its head. I grabbed both of my kamas and stood up.

I looked around in time to see Donnie being cornered by Metalhead. The drone was firing at him without mercy. Donnie ducked, and one of the shots hit his staff, causing it to snap.

"Not again!" he groaned.

"You got this, Don!" I yelled at him.

I quickly swung my kamas up and they stuck through the arms of the Kraang-droid who was standing behind me. I pulled my arms forward and forced the droid to the ground in front of me. I stabbed its head with my kama, and the alien inside scurried out.

"Just come get me!"

I whipped my head around in time to see Metalhead firing tiny, but deadly bullets at Donnie. Said turtle ran forward, dodging all of the bullets as they exploded when they hit the metal supporters and crates. Metalhead fired its laser, but Donnie managed to jumped over the drone, avoiding the shots. Metalhead continued to fire though, his lasers going up and hitting ceiling. Donnie landed behind Metalhead, but the drone turned to face him. Suddenly, the supporter from the other side of the room started coming down towards Metalhead, and…

"Donnie!" I screamed.

But Donnie held his staff up just as the supporter fell down on him. The strength of the staff was enough to keep the metal from falling and crushing the turtle. And that's not all. As the dust cleared, ping sparks seemed to be shooting out from the other end of Donnie's staff. When all the dust was gone, the truth could be seen. Metalhead was crouched in front of Donnie, forced down by the metal supporter, and the wooden staff was shoved into his metal chest.

"Booyahkasha!" Donnie yelled.

I giggled. "That a' boy, D!"

"Sounds weird when he says it," Mikey commented.

"Sounds weird when _you _say it," Raph told him.

"That which is the revenge will be had on those who call themselves 'the turtles and the girl…'"

Finally, Metalhead powered down. The Kraang alien then jumped off and landed on Donnie's face. Donnie yelled, and the alien hopped off and scrambled away. We all walked up to Donnie.

"Thanks a bunch, D," I said as I helped him to his feet.

"Nice job, bro!" said Mikey.

"Way to go, Donnie!" said Leo.

"Yeah, not bad," said Raph, then he frowned. "Except for that part where you built that thing in the first place. And the part where it broke. And the part where it tried to kill us. And the part-"

"Okay! I get it!" Donnie snapped.

"Guys, please," I groaned. "No fighting. Lets just go home, 'kay?"

They agreed, and we left the building.

* * *

><p>Man, it felt so good to be home. The others clearly thought so, too. Well, I assume so. They were currently having a lot of fun playing one of our old arcade games. Raph was apparently trying and failing to beat Leo's high score. I wasn't in the mood for games, so I was sitting on the couch watching an episode of 'Impractical Jokers'. It was about to get to the part where one of the guys was going to be punished when I noticed someone sulking on the other end of the pit.<p>

Donnie was sitting on the couch, a glum look on his face. I paused the TV and walked over to him.

"You okay, bro?" I asked him as I sat next to him.

He shrugged. "I've been better…"

He didn't look up at me. And I didn't look away. I grabbed him by his plastron and made him look at me.

"It wasn't your fault, Donnie," I told him. "You hear me? Don't start sulking just because you made a mistake."

"How can I not? You guys were almost killed, and it was because of something _I_ made!"

Donnie looked sad and hurt. I moved my hand from his plastron and placed it around his shoulders, rubbing his arm gently. I heard footsteps, and I glanced up to see Sensei standing behind us.

"What troubles you, Donatello?"

Donnie looked up at him, and sighed. "This was all my fault, Sensei."

"You are responsible, yes," said Sensei, and I stared at him.

"Yeah…" Donnie groaned.

"Responsible for destroying the mutagen," Sensei continued. "Responsible for saving the people of this city; responsible for defeating advanced technology using only ingenuity, bravery… and a stick."

I smiled up at Sensei, then down at Donnie.

"See?" I hugged him a little tighter. "Now quite being so glum!"

Donnie giggled as he hugged me back. Then he lowered his arms and stood up to look at Splinter.

"Thanks, Sensei," he said. "Maybe you're right."

"I am!"

I chuckled as I grabbed the remote and pressed play.

"I guess with proper training there's nothing better than a wooden stick," Donnie continued, and Sensei nodded.

_Finally, things can calm down for a bit._

"...Except a laser guided missile launching wooden stick!"

"Huh?"

I snapped my head up to see Donnie holding a wooden stick that had a missile attached to it. Donnie slammed the stick to the ground, and suddenly a loud beeping started sounding from it.

"It's not suppose to do that…!" Donnie yelled. "RUN…!"

At once the boys ran away from their game, and I jumped from the couch, abandoning the remote.

"DAMN IT, DONNIE!" I screamed as I ran towards the safety of my bedroom.


	12. Monkey Brains

**Hey, guys. Me again. Man, it's been a while since I've written anything up here, huh? Well, I just wanted to fill you guys in with a little warning.**

**I do not own TMNT, nor do I own the show 'Impractical Jokers.' The only things in the fanfic that I own are my OC's.**

**Just wanted to make sure that you got that. Okay, read on…**

* * *

><p>Ch. 7<br>Monkey Brains

"Afternoon, boys," I said as I entered the kitchen.

The only 'boys' in question where Leo and Raph. The latter was rummaging through the fridge, and the other was sitting by the table eating a sandwich.

"Sup?" Raph pointed into the fridge. "Juice?"

"Sure," I said as I took a seat across Leo.

"Where've you been?" Leo asked when his mouth wasn't full. "You disappeared when we finished training."

"Just listening to the T-pod in my room. Wanted a little peace after training."

"So, basically, you ditched us," Raph said bluntly as he set a cup of juice in front of me.

I snorted. "You said it, not me."

I sipped on my juice as Raph sat next to me. I looked around and noticed we were two turtles short.

"Where's Mikey and Donnie?" I asked.

"In the dojo," said Leo. "Donnie wanted to try some defenses."

"And he wouldn't let Mikey leave," Raph added.

"Hm… I think I'll go check on 'em."

I slipped out of my seat, still holding my juice, and walked out of the kitchen. I looked around the living room and the pit to make sure that the other two weren't there, and I made my way to the dojo. As I got closer I could hear the sounds of the two sparring. I went through the entrance, and walked into the dojo just in time to see Mikey doing a backflip over Donnie's head. The younger turtle landed on the floor and slide back more, giggling with glee.

"Nice back flip, dude," I called as I walked into the dojo more.

"Thank yah, sis!"

I giggled. Donnie, however, didn't look impressed.

"Dude, what are yah doing?" he asked his younger brother. "You don't defend against Seoi Nage with _backflips_!"

"Why not?" Mikey stood up, a grin on his face. "Backflips are where it's at!"

"The best defense is to roll along my back, then take me to the ground and put me in an arm-lock. Unless, of course, I counter with a-"

"Hey man!" Mikey cut across him. "You can't take the fire out of… _Hi-yaah! Dr. Flip-enstein!_"

Donnie frowned. "I don't even know what that means."

"You don't have to know," I stated simply. "Know why? 'Cause this is just Mikey being Mikey."

Donnie sighed, face palming. At that moment, Sensei walked out of his room. As he was crossing the dojo, Donnie ran up to him.

"Master Splinter, what would you do if someone tried to throw you with Seoi Nage?"

"I don't know."

I blinked. _Huh?_

"C'mon, you must've planned a response for every attack," Donnie insisted.

"If you think too much about what is coming, you lose sight of what is," Splinter said wisely. "You must be fully in the moment so you can fight without thinking."

"Why would I wanna fight without thinking?" Donnie asked, his tone suggesting that Sensei had suggested something completely absurd.

"Allow me to demonstrate…"

_Uh-oh…_

"Prepare to defend against Seoi Nage!"

_Bam! Flip! Crash!_

Within seconds Splinter had Donnie laying with his plastron against the floor, holding the turtles arms up to keep him pinned.

"_Ow!_" Donnie cried. "That wasn't Seoi Nage!"

Sensei chuckled. "No, but you _thought _it would be," he released his son, who sat up. "Now, would you like to prepare to defend against a spinning back kick?"

"No, I'm good!" Donnie groaned quickly.

Sensei stood straight and began to walk away. He stopped when he came by me, no doubt because I was covering my mouth to keep myself from bursting into laughter. But he could see it in my eyes, and gave me a warm smile before walking off.

I turned my head to see Mikey walking up to Donnie, who was still sitting on the floor.

"Heheh! Know what woulda worked there?" Mikey jumped closer, getting into his brother's face. "_Backflip!_"

Donnie rolled his eyes, groaning.

* * *

><p>"He's still at it, isn't he?" I whispered.<p>

Raph nodded. "Yup."

"Any idea what he's doing, dude?" asked Mikey.

"Nope," said Leo.

We were all looking over the corner, looking into Donnie's lab. Donnie was at his desk, apparently drawing some kind of map or list or something. I couldn't tell what it was from this distance. Then I straightened up and started to walk into the lab.

"Stealth, boys," I whispered to the others.

They grinned and followed me. We all slowly and stealthily walked towards Donnie, who appeared oblivious to our approach, still drawing away. It wasn't until I was standing in front of his desk that I could see what he was tracing. It appeared to be a very big, very complicated flowchart. Then, when the others were all standing around him, Leo took it upon himself to make our presence known.

"Whatcha up to, Donnie?"

Donnie gasped and looked up. He stared at all of us, surprised to see us there.

"Whatcha sketching?" I asked as I sat on the corner of his desk.

"I'm not sketching," he said.

I raised my eyebrow and glanced down at the chart. "Dude, there's pictures on there. You have definitely sketched."

Donnie rolled his eyes. "Okay, yes, I did."

"So, what are yah doing?" Raph asked.

"Just putting the finishing touches on my _master plan._"

Raph raised his brow. "Master plan?"

Donnie added another line to the chart. "Yeah, to get April to hang out with me."

Me and the guys instantly went into a fit of chuckles. Donnie frowned at us and went back to his chart.

"Try this," Leo suggested, smirking. ""April, do you want to hang out with me?""

"Sounds good to me," I said.

"Yeah, it's not that simple," Donnie told us as he continued to examine his chart. "I have to prepare for every possible response to maximize my chances of success."

"Aww… that's so romantic," Mikey sighed.

I shook my head. "Not exactly, Mikey."

"What do you mean?" Donnie asked, sounding a little worried.

I sighed. "Donnie, this whole chart idea is very sweet. And I think its amazing that you put so much work into asking out April…"

Donnie beamed at me.

"But, it's unnecessary," I told him, and his smile fell. "You don't have to beat yourself up with something as simple as asking a girl out."

"Why not?" Mikey asked. "How would you know?"

"Well…" I messed with my bangs. "I mean… if a guy was asking me to hang out, I'd want him to just ask without stressing himself over it."

"So," Raph folded his arms. "You'd want a guy to just be straight up with you about it?"

"Well… yeah."

"Hm."

Raph glanced at the ground, apparently deep in thought. But the look fell as he turned his shell to me.

"Take it from a girl's point of view, bro," I told Donnie as I turned to face him again. "You don't have to put yourself under so much stress for this."

"As always, I appreciate your advise, Nia," Donnie picked up his chart. "But I'm positive that this chart is gonna work."

I sighed. I looked over at Leo and shrugged, giving an 'I tried' sort of look. Donnie pinned his chart to his white board and rolled the thing over so it stood in front of us. I crossed one leg over the other and folded my arms as Donnie pulled out a long stick.

"Ahem… Yeah, for instance, if April says she can't because she has homework," Donnie pointed to a particular thread. "Then I will suggest an informal study session and offer healthy, brain stimulating snacks."

I raised my brow. "Yum."

"Well, what if she says she can't because you're a total nerd?" Raph asked gruffly.

"Ah! That's this thread, here!" Donnie pointed to said thread. "I will list my many _non-nerdy _qualities, and suggest activities that will highlight my coolness. Such as skateboarding or shark wrestling."

"That's romantic," I smiled, then mimicked Donnie's voice. "Hey, April! Wanna see me wrangle up a couple of sharks? It'll be fun!"

Raph and Mikey burst into laughter and Leo chuckled. Donnie frowned.

"I don't sound like that!"

"Aw Don, I'm sorry," I hopped off the desk. "But, c'mon. I was just busting your shell."

Donnie's frown fell, and he shrugged in a 'I know you are' sort of way. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by another voice.

"Guys!"

"April!" I said happily as we saw said redhead running in, holding her laptop.

Donnie gave a panicked yelp and flipped the board many times, trying to cover his flowchart. He grabbed it, and it finally stopped on the other side, where there was a movie poster that read "Space Heroes III: The Search for Mindstrong."

"H-hey… h-hey Ap- Hey, April," Donnie stuttered, smiling awkwardly.

April paid him no mind, and sat down at the desk, setting her laptop down and opening it.

"You guys gotta check this out!"

She typed away at the keys for a moment before a site came up. She clicked on a video, and it played.

"_Renowned neurochemistry, Dr. Tyler Rockwell has been reported missing. I spoke with Rockwell's colleague, Dr. Victor Falco."_

Then the image of a man, who appeared to be in his early 50s, with graying hair and wearing a lab coat came up.

"_I hadn't heard from him in days, so I stopped by his lab. The place was a mess, and he was gone. I fear the worst…"_

"_Police say that they have-"_

But April stopped the video and shut her laptop.

"So?" Raph asked.

"So, the Kraang have been kidnapping scientist from all over the city!" April explained. "Including my dad… Maybe that's what happened to this Rockwell guy."

"Or, they may not be connected at all," Leo said simply.

"There's only one way to find out," April stood up. "We should go to that lab and look around."

"April's right!" Donnie piped up. "We should go check it out! …What's that? You guys are busy?" he placed a hand on April's shoulder. "Guess it's just the two of us, April."

With that, Donnie began to lead her away. When she wasn't looking, Donnie turned back to us, giving us a thumbs up as he winked. I smiled, returned the thumbs up, and muttered, "way to go." Donnie grinned at me, and left the lab with April.

Once they were gone, Leo snorted as he walked up to the board.

"I bet that wasn't on his flowchart…"

He turned the board so he could look at the chart, and he stared.

"Wow… it is!"

"What?"

I walked over to him and looked at the board. There, at the bottom corner, was a cut little drawing of Donnie and April leaving the lair, and Nia and the others being left behind.

"That… is spooky," Leo muttered.

I backed away from the board, muttering the theme song from, "The Twilight Zone."

* * *

><p>I don't know how I managed to get Leo to give me the remote while he was watching 'Space Heroes', but I did. Don't get me wrong, 'Space Heroes' is a pretty okay show, but it can't top 'Impractical Jokers,' which me, Mikey, and Raph were currently watching.<p>

"_Walk forward," Murr told Q through the mic. "Right a little bit…"_

"_Little left, walk straight," said Joe. _

_Q, who was currently wearing blacked out sunglasses so he couldn't see, continues walking closer towards an unsuspecting couple, who are currently embracing._

"_Slow down- Stop!"_

"_Turn right…"_

_Q does as Joe tells him._

"_Say, "Can I get some of that action?""_

Me and Raph started chuckling at that.

"He ain't gonna say it," I told him, still giggling.

"I bet he does!" said Raph.

Mikey didn't say anything, but continued to watch with anticipation.

_The couple starts to make out. Q pauses…_

"_Say it! Say it! Say it right now!" Joe persists._

"_Can I get some of that action?" Q asks._

I hollered with excitement as Raph and Mikey burst into laughter.

"I knew it!" he pointed at the screen. "I knew he'd say it!"

"I can't believe he said it!" I shrieked.

"Dudes! That is _awesome_!"

Just as we settled down from our fit of laughter, I heard the coin eaters turn. Still smiling, I turned my head, expecting to see Donnie and April to walk in looking successful. What I didn't expect was to see April supporting Donnie, who appeared to be limping.

"Donnie!"

I jumped up from the couch and ran up to them. Donnie was covered from head to foot in black and blue bruises and quite a few scratches. He had a pained expression on his face as he rubbed his head gingerly.

"Donnie, are you okay?" I asked.

But his only response was a painful groan.

"Whoa, what happened?" Raph asked.

"Donnie got beat up by a lab monkey," said April.

I stared. _Is she serious? _The others didn't seemed phased by this though. Leo and I went forward at the same time; he put Donnie's arm around his own neck, and I held Donnie's other arm.

"April, can you get an icepack?"

April nodded, and ran for the kitchen. Leo and I slowly and carefully lead Donnie to the pit.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow…"

We gently placed Donnie on the couch, and he laid back on his shell. I went over and sat by his feet.

"You alright, D?" I asked as I patted his kneepad.

"Yeah…" he groaned. "I think so…"

"Donnie, you gonna be okay?" Leo asked.

"Yeah… yeah, I'll be fine…"

Leo nodded. "In that case…"

Suddenly, Leo, Raph, and Mikey burst into incredible fits of laughter. I started at them. I knew perfectly well why they were laughing. I'll admit, it is kind of funny, but that didn't mean I approved of their current attitude towards this.

"You got beaten up by a _monkey_?" Raph exclaimed, still laughing. "In front of your _girlfriend_?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Donnie snapped. "And that monkey was a vicious mutant!"

"A mutant?" I asked.

"Yes! And he went crazy on me!"

"Yeah!" Leo laughed. "I'm sure he went _bananas_!"

The boys burst into more laughter. Leo shook his head.

"No! No, no, no! He went _ape_!"

By now the 3 turtles were all wiping tears of laughter from their eyes. I frowned at them, feeling irritated.

"Guys, knock it off. This isn't funny."

"Yes, it is!" Mikey bellowed.

I shook my head. _Oh, brother…_ I glanced up, and I saw April coming over, and icepack in her hands. She didn't look too pleased, either.

Raph was the next one t notice April, and when he did, he gave his bros a 'shut up now' motion with his hands.

"No more monkey puns," he said.

At once, all the boys had instant poker faces on, not even looking as though they had just laughed their heads off. April frowned at them all before sitting down on the couch, and she placed Donnie's head in her lap. He giggled quietly, smiling as she put the icepack on his head. I couldn't help but grin. _Nice one, Don._

"Are you laughing at him because he's hurt?" April asked irritably.

"No," said Mikey. "We were laughing at him 'cause he got hurt by a… _monkey_!"

Mikey reared his head back and fell onto his shell, laughing his head off once more.

* * *

><p>It's been a full day since the monkey incident, and the guys were still laughing about it. Donnie had healed up just fine, but he was still upset about it. And I understood why. Mutant or not, he still got his shell kicked by a monkey.<p>

Donnie was currently kneeling in front of the water pit, completely still. I sighed. I bent over and slipped out of my dark blue sneakers. I took off my socks and set them down before walking over to him.

"Hey, Donnie," I sat down next to him and stuck my feet into the water. "What's up?"

Donnie glanced over at me, and shrugged. "Eh…"

I sighed. "Look, Don… The others are just acting kinda jerky right now. There's no need to feel bad."

Donnie sighed. "I know, know. It's just… I just don't get it. I'm a highly trained martial artist. How could I lose to something so… _mindless_!"

Donnie raised his fist and punched the water. I flinched slightly as a few flecks hit my face.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"Look, it doesn't matter if you got beaten by that thing," I put a hand on his shoulder. "Your still the smartest out of all of us, aren't you?"

He didn't answer, but stared into the water.

"Lavinia is right, Donatello," Sensei's voice said. "You are very intelligent."

We both turned to look up at the rat.

"But in a fight, you cannot be… up here."

Sensei pointed to his own head. Donnie stood up.

"But I just don't understand how you can fight without thinking," he said.

At that moment we saw Mikey starting to walk up. He had his eyes closed, and a smile on his face. He was doing a little dance, and we could hear music coming out of the T-Pod. Yes, I know Donnie made the T-pod for me. But, me being the sweet sister I am, I agreed to let Mikey use it from time to time.

"Observe…" said Sensei.

Mikey continued dancing along, oblivious as to where he was heading. Then, when he was right in front of Sensei, the ran advanced. Splinter aimed a punch, but Mikey bent backward and went under the arm. Splinter aimed another, and Mikey backflipped out of the way. Sensei aimed for a final punch, and Mikey simply blocked it with his arm.

Did I mention that he didn't even open his eyes? Because he didn't, not even once. And he was still humming and dancing to whatever music he was playing.

"Wow," I said, staring at Mikey.

Donnie was staring, too, his jaw hanging open and his eyes wide.

"You see?" said Sensei. "Mikey does not think."

Mikey, who had pulled out one of the earbuds, grinned.

"Thank you," he said.

"Your welcome."

But as Mikey started to dance away, Sensei moved his tail in front of the young turtle's feet. Mikey tripped, and yelled as he went flying. I winced, but when I realized he was okay, I grinned.

"And he sticks the landing," I said nonchalantly.

"You must find the space between your thoughts and learn to live there," Sensei told Donnie. "That's what Michelangelo does."

"True, but…" Donnie looked at his younger brother. "Mikey's got a lot more space between his thoughts than I do."

Mikey sniffed the air. He reached back behind his shell and pulled out something small.

"Pepperoni!"

And he ate it. I scrunched my nose. _Eh..._

"Yes, well…" Sensei paused. "Michelangelo has his challenges, too."

* * *

><p>We were all sitting in the living room a little while later. Raph was sitting on the edge of the pit while reading a magazine, me and Donnie were sitting in front of the TV, and Leo and Mikey appeared to be sparring. April was sitting on the couch, looking at her laptop. Apparently, she was looking at the files that were in the flash drive Donnie had swiped off of Rockwell's desk.<p>

"Guys, I think I found something," April said after a while.

Feeling curious, I stood up and hurried over and looked at the screen, and so did the others.

"These notes are hard to follow… but it looks like Rockwell was able to modify the mutagen."

"Why would he do that?" Leo asked.

"He thought he could use it to create a neuro-chemical that would temporarily give someone psychic abilities," April explained.

"You mean that monkey was psychic?" Raph asked.

April shook her head. "It's more like he was reading our emotions. After all, he was only hostile when Donnie was hostile."

"Yeah, well next time I'll be sure to think friendly thoughts while I'm beatin' a little sunshine into him," Donnie said, smacking a fist into his palm.

"Okay, we need to track him down before he attacks someone else," said Leo. "Let's go up to the surface, spread out, and search."

Raph frowned. "How're we gonna stay in contact?"

"I have a little something that might help," said Donnie.

He stood up, a proud look on his face. He walked over to stand in front of us, hands on his sides.

"Gentlemen! And ladies…"

I grinned.

"I give you… the T-Phone!"

Donnie lifted his arm up to reveal a hand-sized cell phone that was shaped to look like a turtle shell, and a cute, little retro ringtone was coming from the speakers. (A/N: aka; the '87 turtles theme song J )

"Cool!" I said, staring at the thing.

"Dude, _I'm _in charge of naming' stuff," Mikey stood up. "I would've called it… _the T-Phone_."

Donnie raised his brow. "I did call it the T-Phone…"

"Yeah, but _I _would've called it the T-Phone…" Mikey said, sounding upset.

Raph then took it upon himself to smack his younger brother's head with his comic.

"And, April," Donnie held out the T-Phone to her. "If you give me your cell number I can patch you into our network."

"Sweet!"

April took the phone and started typing in her number. Donnie beamed, doing a little fist pump.

"See that?" he whispered so that only me and Raph could hear. "I got her number!"

"Her number's on the fridge, yah dork."

Donnie scowled, and I patted his shell.

"Better luck next time, Donnie," I whispered to him.

* * *

><p>"<em>Guys! Someone just spotted the monkey on Bleaker!" <em>I heard April's voice through my T-Phone.

"I think me and Nia are on his trail," Raph said into his phone.

We ran and leaped over a couple of rooftops before we spotted the creature.

"There he is!" I said, pointing.

"We got eyes on him," Raph said. "He's heading south on Delancy!"

"That's affirmative!" I added into my phone.

"_I'm on Houston!" _said Donnie. _"I'll cut him off!"_

Keeping a tight grip on my phone, I followed Raph as we ran across the rooftops. From way far ahead, I saw Donnie's figure suddenly stop.

"Donnie, you still see him?" I asked through my phone.

"_No, I lost him!"_

"_He changed direction!" _Leo said. _"Mikey, the monkey is heading your way!"_

"_I'm on it!"_

Me and Raph changed courses, and began running towards Mikey's location. Not long after that though, we spotted the monkey running in the street. Mikey must've lost him.

"He's getting away!" I shouted.

"Oh no, he's not!"

Raph flipped off the edge of the roof, slide down the fire escape, and landed in the street. I quickly did the same and landed on the ground just as Raph was charging at the monkey into an alley. I followed close enough to see Raph jump over the large wall. I quickly jumped up, leaped off the side of the building, and jumped over the wall. I could see Raph up ahead, but I couldn't see the monkey.

Me and Raph were running around the corner just as Leo appeared, jumping down and landing next to us. We all continued running, trying to catch up to the animal. But, after a few more minutes of running, we got to the open end of an alley, and ran right into April, Donnie, and Mikey.

"Did you guys see wehre he went?" Leo asked.

"I thought he went off in that direction," Donnie said, pointing to the right.

"I thought it was that way," Raph said, pointing to the left.

Next thing I knew all the boys were arguing about which way the monkey could've gone. I sighed. _At this rate we'll never find him. _I glanced over to look at April, and was surprised to see her walking into the alley.

"April?"

"Shh…"

I raised my brow, and slowly followed her. When she started to head for a dumpster I was going to ask her what she was doing, when I heard it. A soft, whimpering sound seemed to be coming from the inside of the dumpster. April and I exchanged glanced before walking forward. April grabbed the lid and slowly lifted it up. The monkey was inside, trying to hide. The second he saw us he backed up, trying to keep away. He looked so… frightened.

"Hey, it's okay," I said gently. "We're not gonna hurt you."

The monkey stared up at me, eyes wide. He looked over at April, who smiled and held her hand out. The monkey hesitated, then slowly grabbed her hand. He looked over at me, as though waiting for something. I grinned and held my hand out for him. He grabbed it, and me and April helped him out of the dumpster. The monkey stood there, staring at us for a moment.

Suddenly, a kusariagama chain shot out and wrapped around the monkey, pinning his arms to his sides. The creature roared, barring his sharp teeth.

"Ah-ha! Got yah that time!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Great, we got the monkey," said Raph. "But we're not any closer to finding Dr. Rockwell."

The monkey roared in April's face, making her back up. When he calmed down she walked up to him, examining his face. Then she blinked.

"Actually…" she turned to face us. "We're a lot closer than you think."

"What? How?" Donnie asked.

April gestured to the monkey. "I think this _is_ Dr. Rockwell."

We all turned to stare at the calming monkey.

* * *

><p>Dr. Falco was surprisingly calm when me and all of my bros came into his lab. He had already met Donnie and April the other night when they went to search in Rockwell's lab, so I suppose most of the shock had worn off by now.<p>

The second we came in we explained to him that the monkey actually was Dr. Rockwell. He instructed us to get Rockwell into a large chair, where he was strapped in. The second this happened, Rockwell started thrashing and hooting, trying to get out. Falco quickly took out a syringe and stuck it into Rockwell's arm. The mutant stopped hooting, his breathing slowed down, and his eyes finally closed.

"There, that should calm him down a little," Falco walked closer to the monkey. "Poor Rockwell…"

"Is there any way to get him back to normal?" April asked.

"I wouldn't even know where to begin," Falco said sadly, and he placed a hand on Rockwell's head. "But I'll see if there's a way to give him some supplants of a normal life."

I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe that the sad look on his older face was genuine. But something about the look in his eyes didn't sit well with me. It was that feeling I got whenever I felt that someone was lying. I've never been wrong about these things, but, at the same time, I didn't want to say anything right now incase it stirred up something bad.

Besides, what if this is the one time that my senses wrong?

* * *

><p>We were all now sitting in the kitchen, waiting for our dinner to arrive. I was listening to some music on my new T-Phone so I could hear how well it worked, and Mikey was playing a game on his.<p>

"Man, this asteriod field is tough!" Mikey grumbled irritably. "I just can't beat it!"

"Pizza's here!" Raph called out as he entered the kitchen.

"Sweet!" I exclaimed, setting down my phone and clapping my hands together.

Raph set the box down on the table, and he, Leo and I each grabbed a piece. The steam issued out of the box and wafted over towards Mikey. His head snapped up, and his sniffed the air. _Here it comes…_

"Must eat pizza… but can't stop playing…" Mikey leaned over to the box. "But must eat pizza! But can't stop playing! _But must eat pizza! AAHHH…!_"

Mikey slammed his face into the pizza bot, letting out a loud, "nom." He sat back up, a pizza shoved halfway into his mouth, and started playing his game again. _I wonder if that's what all gamers do, _I asked myself.

"Sorry we didn't get any closer to finding your dad, April," said Leo.

"Yeah," I added. "I feel kinda suckish because of it."

"It's okay," she said gently. "Everything we learned about the Kraang is another piece of the puzzle."

"Yeah, but… psychic research?" Leo shook his head. "This is one weird puzzle."

At that moment Sensei walked up, holding a plate with a single slice of pizza.

"I am curious, April," he said. "How did you know the monkey was really a human?"

April paused. "…I don't know. Sometimes I just… get a feeling about things."

"A feeling? Hmm… interesting."

With that, Sensei walked away to enjoy his dinner. We all did the same, instantly chowing down on our own slices. It was when I was down to the crust of my own piece that I noticed Donnie wasn't eating, but was looking at his laptop.

"Hey Donnie, how come you're not eating?" Leo asked.

"There's only once slice left, dude," grabbed the box and shifted it closer to him. "Don't you want it?"

"Wha…? Oh, I'm not hungry…"

I frowned and let go of the box. Since when do any of my bros turn away a good slice of pizza? Especially the _last_ slice?

"Something's been bothering me… Falco said that Rockwell was experimenting on a monkey…"

Leo raised his brow. "And…?"

"Well, according to these notes… he never had a monkey in his lab. He was just using samples monkey DNA."

Leo shook his head. "We're still not following you."

I sat up straight. "I think I know where this is going…"

"If he never had a monkey…" Donnie looked at us. "What broke out of that cage?"

We all paused, thinking it over…

"It must've been Rockwell!" piped up Raph.

Donnie scowled. "Which means Falco put him there, and he's been lying this whole time!"

I groaned, silently cursing myself. _You knew he was lying, Nia! You knew!_

* * *

><p>It was bad enough that we had to go stop Falco, not it was raining and lightening as well? Could the situation get anymore cliché?<p>

We quickly got back to the building where Falco was. When we entered the room we could see Rockwell still strapped to the chair, apparently unconscious. Falco was standing in the middle of the room, holding a syringe that was filled with bright liquid. He brought the needle to his neck, and I cringed as he injected himself. He retracted the needle, and when he opened his eyes they were bloodshot and crazy. Just like a mad scientist.

"Alright, Falco!" Leo pointed to the scientist. "We've had enough of your-"

"_Do not _say monkeying around," Raph cut across him.

"I wasn't going to…"

"Yes, you were."

Falco dropped the syringe and walked up to us, a smirk on his face.

"It's over, Falco!" Donnie declared. "We know it was you who mutated Rockwell!"

Falco's smirk widened. "I used him as a guinea pig…"

"Well, it didn't work!" said Mikey. "You turned him into a _monkey_."

I sighed. "Oh, boy…"

"The psychic neuro-chemical I extracted from his mutant brain is changing me," said Falco. "Your minds are opening up to me."

"You stuck that needle in his brain?!" I exclaimed, and when his smirk widened even more I yelled, "Jesus Christ, you're _crazy_!"

"So, this was your plan all along," said Donnie.

"Of course! No man can defeat you when you know his every thought."

"Oh really?" Raph growled. "Then you must know I'm gonna smack-"

"Smack the white off my lab coat?" Falco chuckled. "How _humorous._"

"_Lucky guess!_"

Raph yelled and charged forward at Falco, who didn't move. Raph spun around and made to kick the man in the head. But, Falco simply ducked, and backed away. Raph stared.

"What?" he snapped.

Falco grinned evilly. Then he lifted his hand and made a 'come hither' motion with his finger. Raph yelled and charged forward again. He tried to kick once more, and Falco dodged it. Raph tried to punch him, but Falco moved again. The scientist chuckled, making a soft "tsk, tsk, tsk," sound.

"Oh God…" I muttered.

Raph ran forward and made to punch him again, but Falco still dodged. This time, he spun around and grabbed one of Raph's sai's. He reared his arm back and used the end of the weapon to knock Raph down. Raph hit the floor, and Falco kicked him. Raph shot back, knocking over Donnie and Mikey.

"Guys!"

I ran over and kneeled next to them, making sure they were alright. They all groaned as they got off of one another. Raph stayed on the ground, but Mikey and Donnie both stood up. I turned, and saw that Leo had advanced on Falco. But no matter how many times

"Wow… it's like he's psychic!" said Mikey.

"He _is _psychic, shell brain!" Donnie said exasperatingly. "That's what he just said."

"Oh, yeah… I kinda tuned out when he did his whole 'I'm evil, blah blah blah' thing."

Suddenly, our attention was brought back to the fight when Falco blocked an oncoming blow using Raph's sai. He pushed them over, and knocked the katanas out of Leo's grip. The weapons spun out of control and we leaped out of the way to avoid being hit. I looked up in time to see Leo fall to the ground. Falco had knocked him out.

"That's it!" I yelled.

I reached down and withdrew my tessen, opening it up and running towards Falco. He smirked, holding his arms at his sides. I was right in front of him when I swung my tessen up towards his face. But he dodged it. I groaned with annoyance as I swung my fan to the left, then to the right, and both times Falco dodged.

"Amazing!" he said suddenly as he dodged a kick I had aimed for his head. "The increased level of your protective instincts are incredible!"

I yelled as I threw my tessen at him, and he ducked under it.

"My my… I dare say your instincts are at a 97.5, and that's the very least!" he chuckled darkly. "Too bad that I can see every instinctive move you throw at me."

I ran up to him and aimed a punch at his face, then another at his chest. Both blows he managed to dodge and black. I spun around and aimed a kick that should've hit the side of his face, but he grabbed my ankle with his hand. Then he raised his other elbow, and brought it down onto my thy. Hard.

"Ah!"

I yelled in pain as I stumbled to the ground. I barley glanced up before Falco reared his leg up and kicked me in the chest. I grunted as I was pushed back towards Donnie and Mikey, tumbling to a stop.

"Nia!"

Donnie kneeled down beside me, placing a hand on my back.

"You okay?"

"Ugh… been better…"

I groaned, clutching at my painful chest. Donnie rubbed my back softly, then glared over at Falco.

"How are we gonna defeat him if he can read our minds?" I heard Donnie asked.

"No problem," said Mikey. "I'm good at this. I just have to fight without thinkin'."

_Never thought I'd say this, but thank God Mikey never thinks!_

"Wait a minute… How _do _I find without thinkin'? Oh no! Now I'm thinkin' about _not _thinkin'!"

_Bang!_ I looked up in time to see Mikey fall to the floor, unconscious. Falco stood over him, Raph's sai still held tightly in his hand. Donnie stood up and started to back away as Falco started to walk towards him.

"A man who can read minds is unstoppable," Falco stepped over me. "Once I dispose of you, _no one_ will be able to stand in my way!"

"We'll see about that!"

Donnie withdrew his Bo staff and charged at Falco. He swung his staff once, twice, three times, and Falco managed to dodge every one of them. He threw Raph's sai at Donnie, who used his staff to dodge it. He lunged his staff forward, trying to hit Falco's torso. But the scientist simply grabbed the staff, spun around, and threw Donnie to the side. The turtle hit the wall and fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

"I really must admire that complex brain of yours!" said Falco. "You come up with so many ideas! Too bad I can see them all coming. By the way… do you _really_ think you have a chance with April?"

I gasped. _Oh hell no! _a voice yelled in my head. _That was way below the belt! _From here I could see that Donnie looked angry, but he closed his eyes.

"I can do this…" he whispered. "I just have to fight without thinking. No thinking…"

Falco laughed evilly. _C'mon, Donnie…_

"Don't think… Just do…"

Donnie opened his eyes, and smirked at Falco. Then, without hesitation, he charged forward. For the first time since arriving, Falco looked surprised.

Donnie spun around twice, and each turn ended with a kick; one to Falco's face, and one to his chest. And this time, they weren't dodged. Falco growled and charged forward, but Donnie put his leg out and tripped the man. Then he raised his fist high, punching Falco in the process. Then he took a step forward and kicked his foot out, kicking Falco in the back. Falco turned and went for once more punch, but just as he swung, Donnie jumped up… and _backflipped _over Falco. I grinned. _Way to backflip, Donnie._

Donnie landed on the side of the wall, and pushed himself out. He did a corkscrew motion in the air, all while punching Falco in the torso several times before hitting him with such force, that the man was pushed back into the large cage in the wall.

Donnie grabbed his Bo staff and sheathed it. I groaned slightly as I stood up, and I looked around to see that the other had come to, as well. We all walked towards our purple-banded brother.

"Wow, Donnie! Nice work!" said Raph, looking genuinely impressed.

"Ha! What'd I tell yah about those backflips, huh?" Mikey smirked as he picked up the canister of mutagen. "Pretty cool…"

Donnie rolled his eyes. "Now that we have the ooze, let's see what Falco knows about the Kraang."

We all turned towards the cage, but gasped when we saw it was empty.

"Falco's gone!" said Donnie.

Suddenly, there were strangled grunts coming from the room. Rockwell had woken up.

"What do we do about him?" Mikey asked.

Nobody answered. Then Donnie went up and unlocked the braces that kept Rockwell strapped into the chair. The monkey jumped out of the chair and leaped towards the window. He opened it up, paused, then looked over at us.

"I'm no psychic," said Donnie. "But I think he's trying to thank us."

I smiled. "I think so, too."

The monkey stared at us for a few moments before finally jumping out of the window.

"Um… if he reacts to angry thoughts, is New York City _really _the best place for him?" Raph asked, sounding skeptical.

I froze. We didn't think about that part. Suddenly, there was the sound of a car horn outside.

"Hey, monkey! Get out-!"

But the yelling was cut off by a loud crashing sound, followed by a monkey hooting and a man screaming. There was the sound of a car crashing, and we all flinched.

"I'm sure he'll be okay…" Leo said, but he didn't sound too sure of himself.

* * *

><p>Once again, everything was as normal as could be in the lair. I didn't know where Mikey and Leo were, but I knew Raph was in the living room reading a comic, and Donnie was up to something in his lab. Feeling a little bored, I decided to go see what Sensei was up to. I went over to the entrance of the dojo, and I could see Sensei and April sitting inside, evidently talking.<p>

"April, it seems you have a rare gift," said Sensei. "A sensitivity I have trained my entire life to develop."

"Don't worry, you'll get it," April said sweetly.

"I did! It just took me a long time."

"That's nothing to be ashamed of."

I snorted, but quickly covered my mouth.

"What I am trying to say," Sensei continued. "Is that I would like to train you to be a kunoichi; a female ninja."

I gasped, my heart bursting with excitement. April as a kunoichi? That would be awesome! April must've been thinking the same thing, because she had a huge smile on her face.

"You mean, like Nia?"

Splinter nodded, smiling. "Yes. Just like Lavinia."

"Wow… that's quite an honor!" said April. "If I do this… does that mean I can kick everybody's butt?"

I shook my head. _Tsk, tsk… That's a rookie comment, April._

"We don't believe in using our abilities that way," Sensei said seriously.

"Oh! Oh, yeah! Me neither…" April paused. "…But I could, right?"

Sensei chuckled. "Yes… but I warn you, it will not be easy," he said more seriously. "You will be trained just as Lavinia has been, and I will give you the same warning I gave her seven years ago when I agreed to train her. Training to be a kunoichi will be the hardest thing you've ever done. It will drain mentally, physically, and spiritually…"

"Well, can't be worse than high school."

I keeled over and let out a laugh that I simply couldn't hold in anymore. Oh, man! April is gonna _love _training.

"Eavesdropping again, Lavinia?"

That shut me up. I straightened up and turned. Sensei and April where both looking at me, but neither looked upset.

"Erm… my bad," I said sheepishly as I took a few steps in. "I was just, um… bored."

"I can help with that," April stood up. "Let's got see if Raph's done beating on the pinball game."

I chuckled, and nodded. April came over and walked out of the dojo.

"See yah, Sensei," I called.

Splinter nodded his head, and I walked out.

"So," I said. "Pretty cool, Sensei offering to teach you to be a kunoichi."

"Yeah, totally!" April looked at me. "Hey, um… I hope you don't think I'm trying to step on anyone's toes or anything, but…"

I let out a loud laugh that startled her.

"Honey, listen," I said. "I love my bros to death. They're my best friends and my family. But It's been _so nice_ having another girl to talk to, even if I'm a little more tomboyish than you. The fact that you're gonna be a kunoichi is even better."

April's face went blank with shock. Then a wide smile grew on her face.

Me and her went through the living room, past Raph, who was still reading his comic.

"Hey, April…"

We both turned, and Donnie stood in the doorway of his lab. He had a confident grin on his face as he leaned against the doorframe coolly.

"You, ah… wanna hang out, tonight?"

I blinked in surprise, then grinned slyly at my brother. _Finally._

"That sounds great, Donnie," said April. "But, I can't. I'm training with Splinter to be a kunoichi."

Donnie's jaw fell, and he looked disappointed. When he heard the part about the kunoichi though, his face brightened.

"Oh…"

Then he poked his head back into his lab. I could hear him muttering to himself, and I had a positive feeling that he was examining his flowchart. The thought made me smirk. When Donnie poked his head back out, he had a smooth smirk on his nerdy face.

"Well, then… maybe we can train together sometime…"

"Sounds great!" April said, smiling.

She turned, started to walk away.

"Coming, Nia?"

"In a sec."

April continued on. I waited until she was out of earshot before running up to Donnie.

"Dude, that was awesome!" I exclaimed, giving him a high three.

"I know!" he beamed. "Yah see? Haha! My flowchart is _awesome_! _Oww!_"

"You guys both dorks," Raph said, not looking up from his comic.

But Donnie wasn't even paying attention, and I was too happy for him to care.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, I hope you liked that. I'm gonna try to get these chapters in as quick as possible so I can at least <strong>_**try **_**to catch up to the current episodes. Hell, I'm probably still gonna be in the middle of Season 2 by the time I get to college next year. Aw well… it a writer's life for me, eh?**

**As always, please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. And, if you happen to have any ideas I am more than willing to listen to them. I have already taken up several ideas from a fellow writer of mine(You know who you are ;) ). I'll see y'all later then!**


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